DMK chief M K Stalin to kick-start poll campaign in Tiruchirappalli
Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch DMK’s poll campaign at the party’s 12th state conference from Siruganur on the Trichy-Chennai national highway here on Monday.
The conference theme is "Let Stalin continue, let Tamil Nadu win".
Apart from highlighting the achievements of the state government, Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, is likely to make key announcements targeting the upcoming Assembly election, a senior leader in the party said.
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Earlier, in a letter to party workers, Stalin described the conference as an important political event that would gear up the DMK for the 2026 Assembly election and help pave the way for forming a Dravidian model 2.0 government.
He would hoist the party flag on a 110-foot-high flagpole at the event for which the organisers expect around ten lakh participants.
Stalin had addressed a similar conference before the 2021 Assembly election from the same venue and announced crucial election promises.
DMK principal secretary and state Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru told reporters that the conference will commence at 3 pm.
The DMK had won 133 seats on its own in the 2021 Assembly polls and the Secular Progressive Alliance led by it secured a total of 159 seats in the 234-member Assembly.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
