Chennai, May 6:
Even as the DMK is licking the wounds suffered in this assembly election and finding it difficult to digest the defeat at the hands of a debutant, Vijay, Party President MK Stalin on Tuesday attempted to lift the morale of the rank and file by pointing out that the loss was by a mere 3.52 percent of votes and the Dravidian major would bounce back to power.
Within hours of tendering his resignation to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, he took to ‘X’, urging the party cadre not to lose hope since “The DMK alliance has garnered more than 1.54 crore votes and the party which has emerged victorious secured only 17.43 lakh more. The difference in vote percentage between us and them is a mere 3.52 percent.”
The percentage referred to by Mr Stalin was the cumulative figure of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance. However, if one takes into account the individual performance of the DMK alone, which headed the Front, it was just 24.63 per cent, far less than the 34.92 per cent secured by Vijay party on its own.
In terms of votes secured, of the total 5.73 crore electorate, TVK polled 1,55,42,269 votes (35.84 percent), while DMK secured 1,06,79,506 votes (24.63 per cent).
Refraining from directly identifying the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of Vijay which dethroned the DMK, denying it a successive second term, Stalin asserted that the party would rise from this electoral defeat and return to power. “We will continue the journey of carrying forward the ideals of the century-old Dravidian movement to protect the nation, language and race. I will not allow anyone to lag behind in this long march. We will emerge victorious again.”
In the 2026 election campaign, the DMK’s slogan was ‘Let Tamil win and Stalin’s reign continue’, has failed to connect with the electorate and the party’s strength has been reduced to 59 seats and the Front winning a total of 73 seats. Even Stalin was defeated from Kolathur, which he had nurtured as a model constituency.
In Chennai, considered as a DMK fortress, the party could win only 2 of the 16 seats. It is in this context, that Stalin has written the long post to help the cadre to enliven their spirits and overcome the grief over the loss.
“The DMK has been in power for six times. There is no victory that we have not tasted nor defeat that we have not encountered. We treat both success and loss with equanimity and continue out political journey,” he recalled and said “I am receiving messages consoling me. I derive my strength from you and till then you are with me, I need not worry anything,” and reiterated that the party would continue to serve the people as a strong opposition.
Thanking the voters who have favoured the DMK, Stalin asked the winning legislators to visit the constituency to thank the people.