Even as the DMK finds it difficult to digest the defeat at the hands of a debutant, Vijay, in the just-concluded assembly election, party president MK Stalin, in a bid to lift the morale of the rank and file of the party pointed out that the loss was of a meagre 3.52 per cent of votes and that the Dravidian major would bounce back to power.
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Even as the DMK finds it difficult to digest the defeat at the hands of a debutant, Vijay, in the just-concluded assembly election, party president MK Stalin, in a bid to lift the morale of the rank and file of the party pointed out that the loss was of a meagre 3.52 per cent of votes and that the Dravidian major would bounce back to power.
Within hours of tendering his resignation as the chief minister to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, he took to ‘X’, urging the party cadre not to lose hope since “The DMK alliance has garnered more than 1.54 crore votes and the party which has emerged victorious secured only 17.43 lakh more. The difference in vote percentage between us and them is a mere 3.52 per cent.”
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Refraining from directly identifying the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of Vijay that dethroned the DMK, denying it a successive second term, the outgoing chief minister asserted that the party would rise from this electoral defeat and return to power. “We will continue the journey of carrying forward the ideals of the century-old Dravidian movement to protect the nation, language and race. I will not allow anyone to lag behind in this long march. We will emerge victorious again.”
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In the 2026 election campaign, the DMK’s slogan, ‘Let Tamil win and Stalin’s reign continue,’ failed to connect with the electorate and the party’s strength was reduced to 59 seats. Even Stalin was defeated from Kolathur, which he had nurtured as a model constituency. In Chennai, considered a DMK fortress, the party won only two of the 16 seats. It is in this context that Stalin wrote the long post to help the cadre enliven their spirits and overcome the grief over the loss.
“The DMK has been in power six times. There is no victory we have not tasted nor defeat we have not encountered. We treat both success and loss with equanimity and continue our political journey,” he recalled, adding, “I am receiving messages consoling me. I derive my strength from you and as long as you are with me, I need not worry about anything,” and reiterated that the party would continue to serve the people as a strong opposition. Thanking the voters who favoured the DMK, Stalin asked the winning legislators to visit their constituencies to thank the people.
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