2026 Assembly polls: Udhayanidhi Stalin in poll mode with handpicked observers

CHENNAI: Deputy Chief Minister and DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin has shown that he is not going to waste any time in getting his party’s act together for the 2026 Assembly polls by appointing external observers for all 234 constituencies handpicked by him, if we go by party sources.

Udhayanidhi bringing in new faces into poll preparations of the party a little over a week after he was elevated to the office of Deputy CM shows how keen he is on preparing the party for the poll battle.

At least half the 234 external observers appointed by the DMK high command earlier this month to oversee the 2026 poll preparations are believed to be relatively young.

DMK sources privy to the appointment said that of the youngsters appointed as external observers, most of them were from the youth wing headed by Udhayanidhi. The appointed observers were 'handpicked' by Kurinji (official residence of Udhayanidhi Stalin), based on their performance in the Lok Sabha elections held a few months ago.

It has been reliably learnt that nearly a quarter of the external observers appointed for the Parliamentary polls were relieved of their responsibility for the 2026 Assembly duties. It is not surprising in this context that the powerful Deputy CM himself ventilated his mind at a felicitation for the Lok Sabha poll observers organised at his official residence recently. He is said to have burst out that a fifth of the observers were found wanting in their duties while the rest slogged it out for a clean sweep for the alliance.

The DMK high command or rather Udhayanidhi made sure that the 'retained' observers were not entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the same constituency this time. The observers were shuffled or sacked based on their performance.

A party senior, unwilling to be quoted, even admitted that the appointment of youth and their engagement in poll work might not stop with mere monitoring of election work. The party senior cited a recent public statement made by Forest Minister K Ponmudy and said that the youth wing secretary would have a strong say even in candidate selection and apportionment of other poll duties close to 2026.

Minister Ponmudy who was relieved of a resourceful Higher Education portfolio and allotted forest portfolio had stated recently in a party meeting that there was no guarantee of him getting a MLA ticket in 2026.