Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 16 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin arrived at the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam headquarters in Chennai on Monday to chair a District Secretary meeting of the party.
The meeting led by Stalin will begin shortly. Several senior leaders, including K Ponmudy and S Regupathy, also reached the venue as party district secretaries from across Tamil Nadu arrived to attend the meeting.
The meeting is expected to focus on strategic planning and organisational preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, consolidating party activities at the district level ahead of the polls.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced that Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately, initiating the election process for the 234-member State Assembly, whose current tenure ends on May 10, 2026.
The main electoral contest is expected between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes Congress, DMDK, and other parties, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is set to make his political debut in this election with his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Furthermore, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) will contest on four seats in the upcoming Assembly polls after an agreement was reached with the ruling DMK. A discussion was held on March 11 between DMK chief MK Stalin and MDMK General Secretary Vaiko regarding seat-sharing arrangements.
During the meeting, it was decided that the MDMK, which is part of the Secular Progressive Alliance, will contest in four Assembly constituencies in the state. Of these, the MDMK will contest three constituencies using the DMK’s “Rising Sun” symbol and one constituency using the symbol allotted by the Election Commission to the party.
Congress also reached a seat-sharing arrangement according to which the party will contest 28 Assembly constituencies, and the DMK will allocate one seat to the Congress in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. (ANI)