Chennai, Oct 24 — DMK president M.K. Stalin has directed party functionaries to immediately begin preparations for possible bypolls in five Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies, calling for early organisational work, careful candidate selection and coordinated campaigning to strengthen the party’s prospects.
Chairing a consultation meeting at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters in Chennai, Stalin discussed preparations for Karur, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai and Tiruchy East with district secretaries and senior functionaries.
The discussions focused on constituency-level election work, campaign strategies and the identification of potential candidates.
Stalin stressed that the party should be ready to contest whenever the Election Commission announces the bypolls and work towards securing decisive victories.
The meeting followed the recent bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, where the DMK finished second. The party’s vote share increased in both constituencies, providing encouragement for its preparations elsewhere.
Stalin asked office-bearers in the five constituencies to step up their activities immediately and give particular attention to identifying candidates with sustained involvement in party work and a favourable reputation among voters.
He directed the district units to prepare shortlists containing five or six names for each constituency and submit them promptly to the leadership.
The exercise is intended to give the leadership a pool of potential nominees before final decisions are taken. Those considered should include functionaries and longstanding party workers who have remained active and built public goodwill.
Stalin emphasised the importance of choosing suitable candidates capable of translating organisational strength into electoral support.
The leadership would examine the recommendations and finalise candidates considered to have the strongest prospects of winning, according to the account of the meeting.
District secretaries and senior functionaries also discussed how to organise electoral activities across the five constituencies and shape strategies suited to the contests.
The consultations placed early preparation and candidate assessment at the centre of the party’s approach. Stalin’s instructions indicate that the DMK wants its local units to complete organisational tasks ahead of any election announcement, allowing the leadership to assess recommendations and prepare its campaign in advance.
The five constituencies were discussed as possible bypoll venues. The account did not specify an Election Commission announcement or polling schedule, and the directions concerned preparations for contests that could be notified later.
For now, the immediate task assigned to district units is to begin election work and send their proposed candidate panels to the party headquarters.