Chennai: As Tamil Nadu’s political landscape changes, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is mounting a massive outreach to curry favour with the younger generation.
The ruling DMK’s youth wing, led by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, is preparing to roll out two schemes as part of its efforts to promote its ideology among the youth: the Kalaignar Student Reporters’ Scheme and a fellowship for writers and researchers working on the state’s Dravidian history.
Sources in the DMK youth wing told ThePrint that both schemes, aimed at raising political awareness among the youth, would be rolled out in a couple of weeks. A party source said actor Vijay’s entry into politics has spurred the DMK’s youth wing to ramp up its efforts as the party faces competition for the youth voter base. “Although efforts to politicise the youth and mobilise them under the DMK were on the cards for a long time, they are being stepped up after the entry of Vijay into politics,” one source told ThePrint.
Apart from the two schemes, the DMK youth wing has also made a few organisational changes to reach out to more younger people in the coming days. Although the party has an IT wing to mobilise support on social media platforms, the DMK Youth Wing has started appointing functionaries exclusively for the youth wing’s social media.
The youth wing, which had one organiser and five deputy organisers for each district, has added one more deputy organiser post. “In the newly created deputy organiser post for each district, persons active on social media and have the potential to reach out to the masses in their respective place through social media will be appointed,” one of the functionaries of the DMK youth wing told ThePrint.
Political commentators ThePrint spoke to see the move as a renewed effort by the Dravidian parties to inculcate their ideology among the youth.
“There have not been any serious efforts in the state to reach out to the youth. After a long time, the DMK is taking up such an initiative, and it is a significant step, which would help them not just in the 2026 elections but build a strong base for the party in the coming years,” said Chennai-based political commentator N. Sathiya Moorthy.
Earlier in 2024, the ruling party had also selected 100 orators from across the state to take its ideology to the younger generation and inform them about welfare schemes implemented by DMK governments in Tamil Nadu.
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A DMK youth wing functionary told ThePrint that the party’s attempt to reach out to the youth in the state has produced positive results for its youth wing. “When we selected 100 orators, we did not look to see if they or their family belonged to the DMK party. After being selected as the orators, a few of them enrolled themselves as party members. On top of it, we were surprised that some of them even applied for the youth wing’s district deputy coordinator post that was newly created,” a DMK Youth Wing functionary told ThePrint.
Under the new students’ reporter scheme, the youth wing will invite applications from students across the state to work as reporters for the party’s mouthpiece, Murasoli.
“The candidates will be asked to submit their application along with an article written by them. Based on their writing, the candidates will be shortlisted and they will be placed across the state after a training at the Youth Wing headquarters,” the source at Anbagam, the party’s youth wing office, told ThePrint.
Dravidian historian Thirunavukkarasu referred to this as the foundation days of the Dravidian movement. “This was how the initial years of the Dravidian movement thrived. From the founding leaders of the Dravidian movements to former chief ministers of the state, including C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, they were strong in their writings, and they criticised and responded to the criticism through their writings and their witty responses in the party’s mouthpiece,” Thirunavukkarasu said.
According to sources in the youth wing, 15 people will be shortlisted every year under the Kalaignar fellowship scheme based on their synopsis to work on a book on Dravidian politics in the state.
“The applicants can write on Dravidian politics, culture, and individual leaders who have contributed to the state’s welfare. Based on their synopsis, they will be shortlisted and will be provided Rs 1 lakh for their work. Upon completion of the writings, the party will take care of the publication of the book through its publication,” the source at Anbagam added.
