Chennai: With a watch on the 2026 Meeting elections, the DMK has begun an overt and thoroughly calibrated political push into Tamil Nadu’s western belt, particularly in Coimbatore—lengthy thought to be an AIADMK stronghold and an rising base for the BJP—utilizing a mixture of caste outreach, regional symbolism and welfare politics.

Regardless of coming to energy in 2021 by successful 133 of the 234 constituencies within the state, DMK was in a position to win simply 24 of the 68 constituencies within the western area of Tamil Nadu. In Coimbatore, DMK couldn’t win a single seat, whereas AIADMK gained 9 seats and BJP gained one.

Equally, the latest restructuring contained in the celebration on the district stage, making former Minister V. Senthil Balaji, who belongs to the Gounder neighborhood, the minister in-charge of Coimbatore district, and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin attending the convention of the Puthiya Dravida Kazhagam celebration run by Raj Gounder have gained some forex on the bottom, in keeping with DMK insiders within the western area.

Talking to ThePrint, a DMK functionary within the Singanallur constituency in Coimbatore mentioned that the shift within the help to those two communities was actual within the months after the Lok Sabha polls.

“Though we’ve got been working with the neighborhood individuals for lengthy, we’ve got at all times been seen as an anti-forward caste celebration and anti-Gounder celebration after few of the senior leaders left the celebration in late Nineteen Nineties. Nevertheless, now individuals have realised that our celebration does every little thing for everybody and treats each caste equally and provides illustration to each neighborhood. Therefore, the shift,” the DMK functionary in Singanallur constituency mentioned.

Whereas it’s believed that the DMK’s symbolic gestures within the final one 12 months have helped them get the help of the Gounder neighborhood, political commentator Raveendran Duraisamy identified that the shift started in early 2025.

“Though DMK gained within the native physique polls in 2021 and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the true shift occurred after the Erode East by-polls held in February 2025. DMK has taken a pro-Gounder stance on the one hand, and consolidates non-Gounder communities via welfare measures, symbolic and strategic gestures with out overtly taking part in the neighborhood affairs. This has helped within the run-up to 2026 meeting election,” Raveendran Duraisamy instructed ThePrint.

The celebration, which as soon as had a powerful base within the western area, misplaced its base within the Nineteen Nineties, after leaders together with Erode A Ganesamoorthy, Tiruppur Duraisamy and M Kannappan joined MDMK launched by Vaiko in 1994.

Whereas the western technique depends closely on political symbolism and caste calibration, it is usually underpinned by an expansive micro-targeted welfare framework that the celebration believes can convert outreach into votes.

DMK has rolled out a collection of community-specific schemes, concentrating on ladies, tribals, minorities and fisherfolk. Programmes such because the Tholkudi–Ainthinai initiative for tribal livelihoods, land-ownership subsidies for SC/ST ladies, micro-credit for fisherwomen, housing for Narikurava communities and scholarships for minority women type the spine of this technique.

Beneath the Adi Dravidar & Tribal Welfare Division’s Tholkudi–Ainthinai programme, the beneficiaries have risen from 1,090 in 2023-24 to 7,564 in 2025-26 as allocation elevated from Rs 5.59 crore to Rs 17.80 crore.

DMK elevated vote share by 5% in west TN

Political analyst N. Sathiyamoorthy mentioned the celebration’s latest electoral successes underline a deliberate western-region technique. “In 2024, the DMK elevated its vote share by round 5 share factors (in western area), and succeeded in native physique elections and by-polls,” mentioned Sathiyamoorthy, stating that the chief minister’s broader political design was to make sure communities within the area don’t really feel taken as a right.

“They’re weaving voters into the system. The message is that no group is dispensable,” he mentioned, referring to focused outreach efforts amongst dominant and sub-groups inside the Gounder neighborhood.

DMK functionaries within the Erode district additionally recalled that the introduction of three p.c inside reservation inside the Scheduled Caste quota for Arunthathiyar neighborhood in 2009 by the then DMK authorities is now serving to them within the western area.

“After the Supreme Court docket upheld the legality of inside reservation in August 2024, it has turn into a lot simpler for us to succeed in out to the Arunthathiyar neighborhood (Scheduled Caste), which had been supporting AIADMK within the western area, particularly within the Erode district, the place former speaker P. Dhanabal was elected from in 2016 meeting election,” the DMK functionary in Erode district instructed ThePrint.

In response to political analyst Sathiyamoorthy, two components will dominate the 2026 meeting elections—personalised micro-targeting with quantifiable advantages, and an ideological contest between Hindutva and Dravidian or anti-Hindutva politics, a framework that now encompasses debates on secularism, language, federalism, well being and employment schemes.

Nevertheless, he warned that welfare measures have begun to saturate and it’d pose a danger. “The Rs 1,000 monetary help for ladies has turn into a part of the household funds. The query voters now ask is: What extra is there for me? Persons are comfy, however they see these advantages with no consideration,” he mentioned, pointing to rising public debt and the absence of a powerful opposition narrative as rising political challenges.

However, DMK seems decided to make sure that even areas as soon as thought-about politically distant don’t stay outdoors its increasing electoral map.

DMK’s spokesperson mentioned that they aren’t working for any explicit caste, however working for all of the individuals within the state, even those that didn’t vote for the celebration. “On the time of taking oath because the CM, our chief mentioned that we’ll be working so exhausting that even those that didn’t vote for us would remorse not voting for us. We ensured that each one the individuals within the state are empowered and there’s development in each area and each sector,” the spokesperson instructed ThePrint.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

---

Additionally learn: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat draft SIR: 1.71 crore names struck off, TN’s highest deletions in Chennai

---