Battleground Tamil Nadu: Why Stalin's DMK appears to hold the pole position
When M.K. Stalin took oath as Tamil Nadu chief minister on May 7, 2021, he introduced himself—perhaps for the first time in his long public life—as 'Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin'. Four years later, that nod to legacy seems not to have been empty grandstanding.With just a year left for the next assembly election, not only is the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) on solid footing, Stalin can be said to have spawned a force-field all his own in Indian politics.advertisementA calculated mix of welfare, symbolism and federal resistance takes his imprint beyond the horizons of local administration and realpolitik. With that larger political-ideological aura on Stalin, to hazard a guess, Tamil Nadu looks all sewn up.The Opposition, for one, lacks a coherent argument. The iffy AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)-BJP dalliance comes with too much drag. An aggregated vote-share of 41 per cent in 2024, even topping the DMK alliance's in about 13 Lok Sabha seats, prompted their patch-up after a 2023 divorce.
But Tamil politics doesn't run on simple math. The AIADMK's votes could be said to have been vouchsafed to it because it had split with the BJP. As the 2026 poll nears, it can't risk opposing the DMK's stands on themes like delimitation or language. In a political culture deeply allergic to northern impositions, swimming with the BJP on these issues is tantamount to courting disaster.advertisementThe wildcard, of course, is actor Vijay. His political start-up, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), has drawn early enthusiasts—particularly among the youth—but is electorally untested. And the DMK has its own sunrise sector in Udhayanidhi Stalin, which partly cancels out its edge.Most of all, there's Stalin's helmsmanship. 'Tamil Nadu led the way on federalism,' says Salma, writer and joint secretary, DMK media wing. 'It was here that a strong, clear voice for federal unity was first raised—our CM brought national attention to it, creating awareness and solidarity across other states.'That fed its USP: the heroic profile of a party that offers sharp resistance to the BJP-led Centre, on issues such as NEET (national medical entrance), 'imposition' of Hindi, governor's interference, casting the DMK as a movement still in motion. Seen against that, what are the odds of a TVK slicing off enough votes to allow the AIADMK-BJP to ambush the DMK? Longer than Stalin's full name. Subscribe to India Today MagazineMust Watch
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