Chennai: A meeting of DMK leaders, MPs and MLAs is on right now here at party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam.
The meeting, that also includes district secretaries, is to fine-tune its strategy for the polls. Deliberations on by-polls to the 18 Assembly constituencies and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for 18 April would be the agenda for the meeting.
Coming after DMK president M K Stalin’s State-wide tour covering gram panchayats and a recent public rally at Virudhunagar, the meeting will deliberate on the party’s propaganda drive to reach out to the electorate.
On Sunday Stalin held interviews of candidates seeking party tickets for the parliamentary elections. Party Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, (her tenure ends 24 July 2019) eyeing Thoothukudi constituency, is also one of the aspirants who attended the interview during which senior leaders Duraimurugan and T R Baalu were also present.
Winnability and track record in party work were among the factors taken up for consideration.
On Saturday, Stalin held interviews for aspirants seeking to contest the by-polls to the 21 Assembly constituencies. Recently, the DMK completed seat-sharing exercise with its allies for the Lok Sabha elections.
Setting aside 20 Lok Sabha constituencies for itself in Tamilnadu, the Dravidian party allotted nine seats to the Congress in the State and the lone constituency in neighbouring Puducherry.
The CPI(M) and CPI, besides the VCK, have been given two seats each and one seat each to the MDMK, IJK, IUML and the KMDK. The MDMK has also been assured of one nomination to the Rajya Sabha, the election for which is expected June.