DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, who was elected from the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency in the recently held elections, has been elevated as the party's parliamentary leader. She will be replacing Sriperumbudur MP, T.R. Baalu. Baalu will now head the DMK in the Lok Sabha.
In a statement released on Tuesday, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced the decision. Apart from Kanimozhi and Baalu, the party has nominated Tiruchi N. Siva as the DMK’s leader in the Rajya Sabha. MP Dayanidhi Maran will be the deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha and MP M. Shanmugam is the deputy floor leader in Rajya Sabha. Nilgiris MP A. Raja will be the DMK party's whip in Lok Sabha and MP P. Wilson will be Rajya Sabha’s party whip. MP S. Jagathrakshakan, elected from Arakkonam constituency, will serve as DMK Parliamentary treasurer for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Kanimozhi was the Rajya Sabha MP for two terms, from 2007, and was later elected from Thoothukudi constituency to the Lok Sabha in 2019. She defeated the AIADMK candidate Sivasamy Velumani by a large margin of 3,92,738 votes by scoring 5,40,729 votes in the recently concluded election. She won from the same Thoothukudi constituency in 2019 by a margin of 3,47,209 votes. She has been the face of the party in Delhi for over two decades since she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Kanimozhi had also been the points person in Delhi for the DMK and has been instrumental in clearing several hiccups during the parleys with alliance party leaders in Delhi. She was elevated as the party's deputy general secretary in 2023.
