The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has revamped the party district units on the basis of Assembly constituencies. The shakeup in the party organisation comes at a time when the intra-party equations in various districts have strained and new players have emerged in the state to fight against the DMK as the 2026 assembly polls assume significance.
Four new district units have been created in DMK to accommodate new faces and give representation to communities which will help the party appease voters in certain pockets in West and North Tamil Nadu- Erode and Villupuram. The new appointments and the bifurcation of the party district units indicate DMK’s plans to give representation to minorities, youth and communities like - Vanniyars, Vellalars, Badugas and Dalits.
The Erode district unit has been bifurcated and Housing and Urban Development Minister S. Muthusamy has been made in-charge of Erode South district which includes Erode East, West, and Modakurichi assembly constituencies. N. Nallasivam will be the in-charge of the Erode North district unit, comprising of Anthiyur, Bhavanisagar and Gopichettipalayam assembly constituencies.
Thoppu Venkatachalam, a turncoat and former AIADMK minister who is looked at as a supporter of Electricity and Prohibition department minister Senthil Balaji, has been elevated as the in-charge of Erode Central district unit. The Erode central district unit covers two assembly constituencies - Bhavani and Perundurai.
Venkatachalam, reportedly, worked for the victory of V.C. Chandirakumar in the recently concluded Erode East Bypoll and this position, party insiders say was given to him as a gift on the recommendation of Senthil Balaji.
Venkatachalam’s elevation assumes significance at a time when the rebellion within the AIADMK is gaining strength. Incidentally, former AIADMK minister K.A. Sengottaiyan who has been criticising his party leader Edappadi K. Palanisami hails from Erode and is considered as the Erode strongman for the AIADMK.
In West Tamil Nadu, apart from Erode, DMK has brought significant changes in Tiruppur, which has been split into four district units. MLA K. Selvaraj has been elevated as the in-charge of the Tiruppur East district unit which comprises Palladam and Tiruppur South assembly segments.
Tiruppur West district unit will be handled by Tamil Development and Information Minister M.P. Saminathan. Tiruppur West includes Kangeyam and Dharapuram Assembly segments.
Tiruppur North which includes Avinasi and Tiruppur North assembly segments will be handled by N. Dineshkuma.
Meanwhile, L. Padmanabhan has been made in charge of Tiruppur South, which comprises Udumalaipettai and Madathukulam constituencies. Incidentally, Tiruppur is one of the constituencies where the DMK did not have a proper party structure despite the victory in the Lok Sabha elections. In 2021, DMK lost all the constituencies in assembly elections in Tiruppur and Coimbatore. While minister V. Senthil Balaji took control of Coimbatore in addition to his home town Karur, Tiruppur did not have popular or strong faces to face the election.
Apart from West Tamil Nadu, the DMK has brought in significant changes in the Villupuram district unit in North Tamil Nadu. Former Minister Gingee K.S. Masthan has been appointed as district secretary of the Villupuram North unit. It comprises of Gingee, Mayilam, and Tindivanam constituencies, where the PMK’s Vanniyar vote bank is a deciding factor.
Former MP and Forest Minister K. Ponmudy’s son Gowthama Sigamani has been made in-charge of Villupuram South and the district unit includes Tirukovilur and Vikravandi.
Earlier Sigamani was handling more than half of the district unit. And now because Sigamani’s powers have been cut short, to balance the change, the DMK high command seems to have allocated the Khadi and Village Industries Board portfolio to K. Ponmudy, one of DMK veterans and DMK strongman from Villupuram.
Ponmudy, a senior member of the M.K. Stalin cabinet, has continuously been witnessing a downfall since 2021. Ponmudy who was appointed as the Higher Education Minister in 2021 when the DMK came to power was disqualified in December 2023 following his conviction in a corruption case.
Villupuram central district, which includes Villupuram and Vaanur constituencies, has been handed over to DMK MLA R. Lakshmanan. A Vanniyar from this region, Lakshmanan was earlier with the AIADMK before jumping ship to the DMK. Lakshmanan is considered a strong face in the region to influence the Vanniyar vote bank in this region.
And in Madurai, significant changes have been brought in, where Commercial Taxes Minister P. Moorthi has been given the position of district secretary of the Madurai North unit which comprises Melur, Cholavanthan, Madurai East, and Madurai West constituencies.
DMK MLA K. Thalapathi has been appointed as secretary of the party’s Madurai City unit which includes Madurai North, Madurai Central, and Madurai South Assembly segments.
Other than Tiruppur, Madurai and Villupuram, the Thanjavur unit of the DMK also witnessed a rejig. MLA K. Annadurai has been removed from the party district secretary post and Palanivel has been appointed as the secretary of Thanjavur South district unit. In Nilgiris, K.M. Raju has replaced former MLA B.M. Mubarak as the district secretary.
In Tirunelveli central district unit MLA M. Abdul Wahab is now the district secretary replacing T.P.M. Mohideenkhan. And Tiruvallur East unit has been given to M.S.K. Rameshraj from MLA T.J.S. Govindarajan.
The party insiders say that the new changes have been incorporated to accommodate more members from the youth wing and also to appease certain communities in the state who contribute to the majority of the vote bank.
