Chennai, 07 May (H.S.):Amid continuing uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu, DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday convened a key meeting of the party’s newly elected MLAs at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai to discuss the evolving political situation and prepare the party for its role in the Opposition.
The meeting, attended by all victorious DMK legislators, focused on the post-election scenario, legislative strategy, and the party’s future course of action following the fractured mandate delivered in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
The political landscape in the State has undergone dramatic changes after no alliance secured a clear majority in the 234-member Assembly. The DMK-led alliance won 73 seats in the election. However, the Congress, which secured five seats as part of the alliance, later extended support to actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats.
With Congress backing, the TVK’s strength has risen to 112, just short of the majority mark of 118. The party is now attempting to garner support from smaller parties and independents to stake claim to form the government.
Sources said TVK leaders have initiated discussions with parties including the CPI, CPI(M), and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), all of which hold a small but potentially decisive number of seats in the new Assembly.
Against this backdrop, the DMK appears set to move to the Opposition benches for the first time in a decade.
The election outcome also dealt a major setback to Stalin personally, as he lost the Kolathur Assembly constituency to TVK candidate V.S. Babu by a margin of nearly 10,000 votes. However, Udhayanidhi Stalin retained the Chepauk–Triplicane seat, further strengthening his position within the party.
Political observers believe Udhayanidhi is likely to be elected leader of the DMK Legislature Party and could subsequently become the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman