DMK picks tough seats, gives easy ones to partners

Keen to break AIADMK’s fortress, Udhayanidhi to lead war in west districts

CHENNAI: The DMK appears to have decided to do the hard miles in the ensuing Lok Sabha election for the INDIA bloc in the state. The DMK, going by the allocation of constituencies so far and likely allocation for the Congress, has tried a strategy of allotting the ‘easy’ seats to allies and ‘reserve’ the tough ones for its party workers to sweat it out at the hustings.

DMK sources with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations with the Congress party said that the high command has already apportioned six of the ten ‘comfortable’ seats, including Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram already allocated to the CPI and IUML, and seats earmarked for the Congress in its southern strongholds to allies. The easy southern seats earmarked for the allies include Tiruchy (MDMK) and Mayiladuthurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Kanniyakumari and probably Tirunelveli for the Congress. “All these seats fall within our strongholds where we can win hands down. But, the Chief Minister has agreed to allot most of the sitting seats to the Congress and even allocate Mayiladuthurai and probably Tirunelveli additionally. Thalaivar insists that they must not allow the allies to fight the challenging seats. He is on a mission to win all 39. Hence, the seat allocation,” said a highly placed DMK source.

Udhayanidhi to micro manage ‘difficult’ West

The formula was evident more in the western districts where principal opposition party AIADMK still holds considerable sway among the voters. “It is no longer a secret that we want to take on the AIADMK and BJP simultaneously in Coimbatore. Our high command is also very determined to field our own candidates in Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri and possibly even Karur where the pressure of AICC for its sitting MP Jothimani and the influence of former minister Senthilbalaji among the DMK high command is delaying consensus,” said a state level functionary of the DMK on condition of anonymity.

The easy southern seats earmarked for allies include Tiruchy (MDMK), Mayiladuthurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Kumari and probably Nellai for Congress

The leadership has already decided to specially depute Minister and DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who would be the face of the DMK’s campaign this election, to walk the extra mile in the western districts. “We were told that Udhayanidhi would spend most of his time in the west. Apart from defeating the AIADMK in its stronghold and demystifying claims about BJP’s growth in the Kongu region, it would also help us revive our fortunes in the west where we suffered miserably in the 2021 Assembly polls,” a DMK district secretary said, revealing that the campaign itinerary has been planned in such a way that Udhayanidhi would micromanage the poll affairs in the western districts.

Significantly, the DMK is likely to field its youth wing faces in at least two of the four seats it is most likely to contest.