Chennai: After a debilitating loss in the Lok Sabha election, the Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS)-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is pinning its hopes on a professional strategist to give it a makeover ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu polls.
The party has approached two political strategy firms, one of which has worked in Tamil Nadu before, AIADMK sources told ThePrint.
ThePrint has also learnt that one of the two firms that do not have a base in Tamil Nadu so far has sent out emails to people to build a team in the state before the assembly elections.
A former minister at AIADMK, who did not want to be named, said that the need for a strategist arose as the party has several power centres, each pulling EPS in different directions.
“When former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was there, we did not have a strategist. She was the sole strategist and leader, and everything for the party. But, now regional power centres are pulling the party down, making it difficult for EPS to reach a decision,” the former minister said.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK alliance lost all seats contested, coming second in 27 constituencies. The National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, came in second position in 12 constituencies, pushing the AIADMK-led alliance to third in 11 constituencies and fourth in one Tamil Nadu constituency.
The rout in the Lok Sabha election forced the AIADMK to boycott the subsequent by-polls held in the Vikravandi assembly constituency, letting the Anbumani Ramadoss-led Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Seeman-led Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) to fight against DMK.
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Dravidian parties’ use of political strategists
It is not the first time EPS is looking for a political strategist to manage the party’s election strategies. In 2020, he first roped in former Mckinsey consultant Sunil Kanugolu, who has been prominent in fixing the poll strategies for Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The DMK engaged Sunil Kanugolu to run the 2016 assembly election campaign. However, the party lost the election and then hired Prashant Kishor to run the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign, which was a breakthrough, with the DMK winning 39 of 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
Sunil Kanugolu ran the 2021 assembly election for AIADMK. The party lost the election, but the campaign helped boost EPS’s image through the MGR centenary celebration.
On the other hand, Sunil Kanugolu and Prashant Kishor are credited for the boost in the image of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin when he was the opposition leader.
According to the former AIADMK minister, the party now believes that political strategists could help rejuvenate its image. “EPS was among the top five ministers in Amma’s (J. Jayalalithaa’s) Cabinet, but he was not that familiar across the state when he became the chief minister. That was the work of the strategy team. It boosted his image as the leader, at least in some parts of the state, if not across the state. So, he believes that a strategy team would help him to make decisions that would probably work for the party,” the former minister said.
Political analyst Raveendran Duraisamy said the image of the party and EPS could be revamped but was unsure if a political strategist could break the grassroots support for the DMK, which has formed a formidable alliance.
“More than the image of EPS and the party, the alliance of DMK is so strong that it cannot be defeated in the 2026 assembly election unless there is a big difference in opinion between the (allied) parties in the run-up to the election and the DMK’s alliance breaks. It would be interesting to see how the strategist firm suggests the formation of an alliance,” Raveendran said.
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Plans for a reboot
An AIADMK source from Tiruvallur said that EPS promised a transformation within months of engaging a political strategist and disciplinary actions against those not adhering to party directives.
“He asked us not to worry and said that things would change once a political strategist gets hired,” the source from Tiruvallur district, who held discussions with EPS on the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results, told ThePrint.
Additionally, EPS organised extended sessions with party workers to plan demonstrations against the DMK government to maintain morale and engagement among supporters.
However, political commentators in the state feel that EPS is still missing a strategy as those protests have largely failed to get people’s attention.
Ever since the Lok Sabha results, AIADMK has organised at least 10 protests across the state, condemning the ruling DMK on issues related to the hooch tragedy, law and order situation, women’s safety, and property tax hike.
On 8 October this year, AIADMK conducted a statewide human chain protest to condemn the hike in property tax, but it did not gain much traction.
Duraisamy criticised this timing as misguided, suggesting that AIADMK should have been more strategic in choosing protest dates that do not clash with significant political events.
“It was a wrong call to protest on a day when the two-state assembly election results were announced. As an opposition party, AIADMK should have been wiser than the ruling DMK government. At a time when the fight is already for the second position, such a lackadaisical approach towards issues might push AIADMK down,” said Duraisamy.
AIADMK insiders, however, asserted that internal changes are underway and promised a noticeable shift in the party’s operations before the next elections.
AIADMK spokesperson Babu Murugavel confirmed strategic planning by the party leadership but remained vague on specific details. He expressed confidence in upcoming changes in party activities.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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