DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin speaking at the party meeting in Coimbatore on Saturday. , photo credit: s. Shiva Saravanan
Chief Minister MK Stalin said here on Saturday that the “overwhelming” victory of the Secular Progressive Alliance constituent Congress in the Erode (East) bypoll was testimony to the seriousness with which the ruling DMK fulfilled its poll promises.
“The DMK government did not stop at providing COVID-19 relief of ₹4,000 to every family card-holder, introducing free bus travel for women and other promises, but also took measures like the ‘Pudhumai Pen’ scheme for girls Started. students…,” he said.
Speaking at a reception attended by over 4,000 workers from AIADMK, DMDK and other parties, Mr Stalin said, “This has taken the margin of victory in Erode (East) from less than 10,000 votes in the last election to over 66,000 this time.” For DMK in Coimbatore region. These workers joined the DMK under the leadership of former MLA Kovai Selvaraj, who joined the DMK last December from the AIADMK faction led by ousted coordinator O Panneerselvam.
Attributing the DMK’s growth in the region to the leadership of Power Minister Senthilbalaji, who is the party’s in-charge for Coimbatore district, the chief minister said the victory in Erode (East) paved the way for the DMK to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats. Good signs have been given. 39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry – in the 2024 general election. Mr Stalin said, “In the last Lok Sabha election, the alliance gave one seat to the rival. That won’t happen this time.”
Hinting at a national role for the DMK, Mr Stalin said the party would soon have a presence in other states.
The DMK was of the era, Mr. Stalin said. He said that some parties come to the fore only to win elections and then disappear. The DMK was formed primarily to emphasize the self-respect of Tamils and to serve the poor.
Although the party was formed by the late CN Annadurai in 1949, it entered the electoral fray in 1957 on the basis of a plebiscite. “Then the DMK saw the best of victories and the worst of defeats,” he said.
He said the DMK was not after power in 1975, when the government it formed was dismissed because it refused to toe the line of Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and instead sought withdrawal of the Emergency. A resolution was adopted, he said.