Be prepared to lose allies, DMK leader Udhayanidhi tells cadre in veiled warning to Tamil Nadu Congress

CHENNAI: The leaders and cadres should gear up for any political exigencies ahead of the 2026 Assembly poll, even if it means contesting without one or more allies, DMK’s youth wing secretary and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin told party in-charges of all 234 Assembly constituencies.

This assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of rumblings in the State unit of the Congress for share in power and even capturing the Tamil throne, which has irked the DMK leaders and made the Congress high command anxious.

The instruction to “be prepared for everything” came during a function held to felicitate the in-charges for their performance during the recently concluded Parliamentary poll which the DMK-led INDIA bloc swept.

Also present during the feast at Udhayanidhi’s ‘Kurinji’ camp office here earlier in the week were the members of the five-member coordination committee that was constituted by DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin to recommend organisational changes ahead of the Assembly polls.

The panel members who oversaw poll preparations for the Lok Sabha polls also got into a huddle on the sidelines of the felicitation, sources said. Udhayanidhi, sources privy to the meeting disclosed, has taken stock of the recent rumblings within the State Congress unit on the alliance with the DMK.

Udhayanidhi also advised the constituency in-charges to coordinate better with the district secretaries and other functionaries locally to intensify the poll preparations.