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Political parties in TN hinge on a stream of young leaders to win 2026 assembly polls
Tamil Nadu's political landscape shifts as younger leaders, including actor Vijay and Udhayanidhi Stalin, prepare for the pivotal 2026 assembly polls.
The Tamil Nadu’s political arena is witnessing a churn with a stream of younger leaders whose popularity is likely to be tested during the 2026 assembly polls. Among them is actor Vijay, 50, who has announced his political debut for the assembly polls, state deputy chief minister Udhaynidhi Stalin, 46, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss, 55, and BJP state president K Annamalai, 40.
According to political observes, emergence of younger leaders pushed the DMK to promote Udhayanidhi as deputy CM, which was anyway inevitable. However, there is a wisdom that prevails in the DMK that his ultimate coronation might happen only if his 71-year old father and chief minister MK Stalin ensures they win the 2026 assembly elections.
Close to Stalin’s age, leader of opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), who is 70, recently asked his party’s IT-wing to rope in more youngsters as one of his strategies to regain the party’s lost vote bank. Stalin is likely to lead the DMK alliance in 2026 polls to project his son as a future party leader.
In the run-up to the assembly polls, Vijay, who has a cult following and launched his party Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) earlier this year, will host the party’s first state-level conference on October 27 at Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.
According to his party leaders, he is expected to spell out TVK’s ideology, policies and leaders on that day. “We must work for the people of Tamil Nadu, ensuring that the unmet basic needs are fulfilled,” Vijay said in a statement on Friday. “This must be achieved both politically and legally. This has been my ambition for a long time.”
Vijay is untested in politics, but his mass popularity in cinema and if that would translate into votes is a talking point among political veterans.
“We have seen since 2019 that one of Udhayanidhi’s biggest strengths is how he relates to the crowd, particularly the youngsters. He has been elevated now, which gives him two years to be groomed to face the next assembly elections,” a senior DMK leader said not wishing to be named. Sports minister Udhayanidhi, who is only five-year-old in politics, was elevated as Tamil Nadu’s deputy chief minister on September 28 and is also the head of the DMK’s youth wing.
“Vijay’s entry will alter Tamil Nadu’s political arithmetic,” says political analyst Maalan Narayanan. “And, Stalin is doing everything he can to keep his allies together. He knows now that the BJP and AIADMK have split and with EPS wooing some of DMK’s allies, they have more options to forge an alliance, including with Vijay.” The EPS-led AIADMK broke its alliance with the BJP last September.
Annamalai, who took over as BJP president in 2021, and is currently on a three-month sabbatical doing a politics fellowship in UK’s Oxford, has been touted to be the national party’s chief ministerial candidate. This comes fresh after his loss in the Lok Sabha elections, which concluded in June. “His aim is the assembly elections. He did not want to contest in the parliamentary elections but he obeyed the central leadership,” said a BJP leader close to Annamalai.
The party has been trying to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu and the BJP-led NDA alliance garnered 18% vote share in the parliamentary elections under Annamalai, which is an increase from 3.6% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, it has to be read with the number of seats BJP had contested, which was only five in 2019 compared to 19 it contested in this year.
Shedding the BJP away, the AIADMK thought it would regain lost ground particularly amongst minorities. But, this parliamentary election was one of the worst performances for the Dravidian major though they remain number 2 in terms of vote share after the DMK. The DMK had 27% while AIADMK’s vote share was 20.4%. Last week, at an internal party meeting, EPS advised his second rung leaders and the IT wing to attract youngsters to compensate for their loss in vote bank. Unlike the DMK, the opposition has neither a young face nor a succession plan for EPS.
“But, he is aware that cadres and voters who are loyal to the AIADMK are dying, which is causing a loss to our vote share,” an AIADMK leader said. “He has instructed the IT wing to appeal to the young voters.”
Meanwhile AIADMK’s former ally PMK stuck with the BJP after the former broke off the alliance. Junior Ramadoss has been saying that they will form a coalition government in 2026 without the DMK and AIADMK. He unsuccessfully contested as the chief minister candidate in the 2016 assembly elections. In 2022, he took over from his father and party founder S Ramadoss to lead the PMK.
The upcoming assembly elections will be a crowded affair with Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK), led by 57-year-old Tamil nationalist S Seeman, also in the area received 8.10% vote. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NTK was only at 3.9%. NTK emerged as the third-largest party in the 2021 assembly elections with 7% vote share behind DMK and AIADMK with 7% vote share.
