New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s sudden activism comes as no surprise, given that the state is heading toward Assembly elections in 2026, for which he has set a target of winning 200 out of the total 234 seats.
To ensure a “100 per cent” victory, the ruling party needs to excel in all spheres — be it action or rhetoric, administration or governance, perception or posturing. The government’s track record and performance must be exceptional for people to vote overwhelmingly in its favour.
But does Stalin’s DMK government fit the bill in terms of governance, public perception, and overall satisfaction among the masses? The government has been facing challenges on multiple fronts, particularly in law and order, in addition to the anti-incumbency factor.
No party achieves a sweeping victory unless there is a strong wave of sentiment — something that, in the Indian context, is witnessed when Pakistan or China engages in hostilities or when the Indian cricket team triumphs in a major tournament. However, other factors, such as language, culture, and regional identity, if strategically leveraged, can also shift the tide in an election.
CM Stalin is well aware of this. Free welfare schemes do not always guarantee electoral success, as demonstrated in the Delhi Assembly elections, where Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP suffered a massive defeat. Against this backdrop, Stalin identified his electoral weapon: the NEP’s three-language formula and the issue of delimitation.
For the past few months, he has been aggressively opposing the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, accusing the Central government of imposing Hindi through the three-language formula. Even as this debate rages on, CM Stalin has opened another front against the BJP-led Union government — delimitation.
He argues that the population-based delimitation proposed for 2026 will be unfair to Tamil Nadu and other southern states, contending that Tamil Nadu will lose Lok Sabha seats due to its relatively slow population growth.
On March 5, he convened an all-party meet on the issue and has since written to the chief ministers of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, and Punjab, urging them to join forces against delimitation. He has invited them to a meeting in Chennai on March 22.
Interestingly, he has also extended invitations to BJP units in Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal to participate in the discussion.
Stalin is forming a Joint Action Committee (JAC), stating that its purpose is “to defend our states from being silenced.”
With the twin issues of language and delimitation, CM Stalin is attempting to garner support not only within Tamil Nadu but also from other opposition-ruled states.
He has been posting on social media almost every morning, directly targeting the BJP, its Ministers, and its leaders.
In a post on X, he took aim at Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, stating: “It was the Union Education Minister who provoked us to write this series of letters when we were simply doing our job. He forgot his place and dared to threaten an entire state to accept Hindi Imposition, and now he faces the consequences of reviving a fight he can never win.”
The CM also wrote, “…This is like an LKG student lecturing a PhD holder…”
His posts are provocative and appeal directly to Tamil pride: “Dravidam does not take dictations from Delhi. Instead, it sets the course for the nation to follow.” … “Tamil Nadu will not tolerate Hindi colonialism replacing British colonialism.” … “From the names of schemes to awards to Union government institutions, Hindi has been imposed to a nauseating extent, suffocating non-Hindi speakers, who are the majority in India.” … “History will remember that it was DMK that stood as the vanguard.” … “Imposition of anything breeds enmity. Enmity threatens unity.”
CM Stalin and his party have been running hashtags like ‘Stop Hindi Imposition’ to stir public sentiment, an essential strategy for creating a favourable electoral wave. The issues of language and regional identity have historically resonated with Tamil voters.
By tapping into these emotions, Stalin is aiming to secure 200 out of 234 seats. His campaign has now reached a decisive stage — he is no longer just addressing the local population but is working to turn this into a national issue.
He is positioning himself not just as the voice of the South but also as a key opposition leader with a strong agenda. While the North-South divide may benefit him electorally in Tamil Nadu, Stalin is also striving to elevate his stature among national leaders, aiming to be counted alongside or even above Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi.
His strategy is to turn the Dravidian identity into a national cause by linking it with regional identity, culture, and language. His ultimate goal is to construct a narrative that counters the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. This will help him on several fronts — to secure DMK’s decisive victory in Tamil Nadu for the second time in a row, a feat only done by his father, late Karunanidhi, to secure the position of his son Udhayanidhi Stalin, currently a first-time MLA and Deputy CM, in the big family tree of Karunanidhi, and last to emerge as a national leader.
Language, rights, and territory are always emotional issues that can sway hearts and minds, and CM Stalin is playing these to get 200 in 2026.
(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)
–IANS
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