DMK cadre demand to change party’s Veerapandi candidate

DMK cadre, on Monday (March 30, 2026), protested to change the DMK Veerapandi Assembly constituency candidate in Salem.

On Saturday (March 28, 2026), Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin announced candidates for the Assembly elections to be held on April 23. For Veerapandi constituency, A.K. Tharun was announced as the DMK candidate. He contested in the 2021 Assembly election and lost the election.

Meanwhile, on Monday, supporters of the Salem East District Deputy Secretary Parapatti R. Suresh Kumar gathered at District Secretary S.R. Sivalingam’s house near Salem Town Railway Station and raised slogans to change the candidate.

They alleged that Mr. Tharun came to gather votes in 2021 in Veerapandi but after that, for the past five years, no one saw him in the constituency. Mr. Suresh Kumar attended every function in Veerapandi and met the party cadre regularly. Therefore, Mr. Suresh should be announced as a DMK candidate. If not, DMK cadre will not work for Mr. Tharun in this election, they said. “No one has pressurised us to protest and we are ready to apologise to the party high command. But we want the Mr. Stalin to change the candidate. We are ready to resign from our party posts if Mr. Tharun is not changed,” the cadre added.

Later, Mr. Sivalingam met the party cadres and held talks with them. The cadre submitted their demand to him.