AIADMK's 2026 Assembly poll campaign to begin with EPS's statewide tour from January

Chennai (The Uttam Hindu): The principal opposition party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, is gearing up for the 2026 Assembly elections. Party General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) is set to launch a statewide campaign at the end of January. As part of the campaign, EPS will visit all 234 Assembly constituencies in the state, address rallies and highlight alleged misdeeds of the ruling DMK government. In a statement released on Monday, the AIADMK announced its plans to appoint full-time organisational in-charges, including women, for each booth committee. Tamil Nadu has 68,467 booths, and the in-charges will oversee grassroots-level campaign activities. At the party’s General Council meeting held in Vanagaram on Sunday, EPS emphasized the need to strengthen the party’s youth wing, the Ilaignar Pasarai (Youth Brigades), to attract young voters and revitalize the party. He instructed district secretaries to recruit more youngsters for the brigades, a concept originally introduced by former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2008.

The initiative played a crucial role in the AIADMK’s victory in the 2011 Assembly elections. Membership in the Youth Brigades is open to individuals aged 18 to 25. In addition, the party plans to create a separate sports wing to attract youth by organising local sports competitions, a task that the booth in-charges will oversee. Since its defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, AIADMK has struggled to regain its footing. The party also faced a crushing defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, failing to secure a single seat out of the 39 in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry. Meanwhile, the DMK, AIADMK’s principal rival, has already commenced preparations for the 2026 polls. The DMK has appointed full-time workers for each of the state’s 234 Assembly constituencies. Half of these workers were selected based on their performance during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the DMK-led INDIA bloc secured a landslide victory, winning all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry. The DMK’s full-timers were carefully screened and selected with input from local leadership. Interestingly, these appointees are not residents of the constituencies where they have been assigned, ensuring impartiality and focused efforts. DMK President and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has expressed confidence in his party’s chances, claiming that the DMK will win 200 of the 234 Assembly seats in the upcoming elections.