Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]. May 5 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday expressed heartfelt gratitude to the people of the state who supported the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance in the recently concluded legislative assembly elections, despite the party's defeat.
He thanked the voters, considering each vote as an invaluable token of trust.
He emphasised that the DMK alliance secured over 1.54 crore votes, with a narrow 3.52 per cent vote difference from the winning party.
In a post on X, CM Stalin wrote, "I express my heartfelt and sincere gratitude to all the people of Tamil Nadu who voted for the candidates of the secular progressive alliance led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly general elections. I consider each and every one of your votes as an invaluable token of trust. According to the vote counts received so far, the DMK alliance has secured 1 crore 54 lakh 82 thousand 782 votes. I convey my heartfelt gratitude to all these people. The party that won additional constituencies has gained only 17.43 lakh more votes than us. The percentage difference in votes between us and them is just 3.52 percent. As far as I am concerned, I consider the trust that the people of Tamil Nadu have placed in us to be strong."
https://x.com/mkstalin/status/2051533696570986819
Despite the setback, Stalin urged the winning candidates to personally thank their voters and reaffirmed the DMK's commitment to serving the people, whether in power or as the opposition.
"The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been in power six times. There is no victory we have not seen; there is no defeat we have not faced. In the political public life, in the journey of upholding our ideology, what we will always be cautious about is that our ideology should not suffer defeat. Whether in victory or defeat, those who regard them equally and continue their journey toward their ideals are the comrades of the party. That is why, whenever I speak at important conferences and public meetings, I always begin by paying homage to all the workers across Tamil Nadu. You are the lifeblood and roots of the movement. If we are the ruling party, we will formulate schemes for the people. If we are the opposition party, we will fight for the people's demands. In that regard, now as a strong opposition party, we will continue the politics for the people," the post read.
A day earlier, Tamil Nadu witnessed a dramatic political shift as TVK secured 107 seats in the 234-member Assembly in its debut election, falling just 11 seats short of the majority mark. While DMK secured 59 seats.
The party is now expected to seek support from smaller parties, including Congress, PMK, Left parties, CPI(M), and VCK, to form the government.
The election results also delivered a major upset in Kolathur, where DMK chief and outgoing Chief Minister MK Stalin lost to TVK's VS Babu by 8,795 votes. TVK also led the vote share with over 32 per cent, while the DMK secured 24.19 per cent and the AIADMK 21.22 per cent, marking a decline for both Dravidian majors.