200-Assembly seat in 2026 target not poll rhetoric: DMK chief Stalin

CHENNAI: Issuing a clarion call to his party district secretaries for the next 2026 Assembly polls, Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Friday said that the target set by him for winning 200 Assembly seats in the next Assembly poll was not a mere political rhetoric, but a probable target that can be achieved through fieldwork and goodwill of the people.

Speaking at the meeting of the party district secretaries at Anna Arivalayam, Chief Minister Stalin referred to the DMK’s continuous victories from the 2019 Parliamentary polls to the recently held Vikravandi by poll and said, “If we work without slackness, there is no doubt we can form the government again next time (2026). We must commence our fieldwork now to prepare for that. We must function for the next two years with the elections in mind.”

Advising his district secretaries to trumpet the government’s achievements in the people’s forum even while responding to criticism, Stalin said, “I did not set 200 Assembly seats as our target for 2026 for the sake of rhetoric uttered from the dais. We have implemented welfare schemes to such an extent, and won the goodwill of the people.”

Reasoning that the government’s schemes were designed and implemented in such a way that there would be a beneficiary in each house in Tamil Nadu, the CM said, “Our fieldwork is crucial to transform the welfare schemes that have reached the people into votes. We must start working from now.”

Will monitor from US: Stalin

Apprising his district heads of his scheduled business trip to the US, the Chief Minister said, “I am leaving for the United States on the night of August 27 to secure investments. You must ensure the completion of the Mupperum vizha and the works entrusted to you now, as was discussed. Though I will be in the US, I will observe the activities of the party through the headquarters.”