The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly poll results, which appears to favour the TVK, is likely to cast a shadow on the future leadership in the Dravidian majors, potentially triggering organisational rejig, said sources.
Political commentators are of the view that after the set back in the polls, both DMK and AIADMK will face a stiff challenge in keeping their parties united and face the future elections.
"There is no precedent of AIADMK facing defeats consecutively twice in the state assembly elections. The defeat will have a major impact within the party. All the decisions in the party were not unanimous and therefore, even senior functionaries were not happy with Edappadi K Palaniswami's decisions," K C Palanisamy, former AIADMK MLA told PTI on Monday.
Recalling former AIADMK's minister K A Sengottaiyan's attempt to reinstate expelled leaders, a move rejected by the AIADMK high command, KCP said, "Many party leaders including grassroot level cadres were not happy with the decision of Palaniswami. The issue will arise again within the party." He claimed that after the poll defeat, there could be demands to remove Palaniswami from the general secretary post.
The former MP said, "this is the need of the hour". Reunification is the only way for the AIADMK to survive. Otherwise, the party will gradually decline."
On DMK's prospects, he cautioned against continuing dynastic politics.
"The party must give chances to new faces, otherwise electoral defeats will continue." Senior political commentator R Duraikannan said both AIADMK and DMK should overhaul their political strategies.
Alleging that corruption is a key issue for the DMK, he said there is a possibility of its allies including VCK and Congress partin ways and aligning with the TVK to form the government.
"It will be difficult for the DMK to sustain without strong allies," he said adding "they were able to win many elections only due to its strong allies".
Predicting leadership changes in AIADMK after the election, he said, "it (AIADMK) would need to rebuild from scratch."
The political commentator also said both the DMK and AIADMK appear to have taken elections for granted, contributing to their poor performance.
Political anlayst Sathyalaya Ramakrishnan said the absence of prominent DMK faces in the Tamil Nadu assembly could weaken the party's image.
He also warned of a "leadership struggle" within DMK, saying party chief MK Stalin's "poor performance" in the assembly election could have long term repercussions.
Regarding AIADMK, he said despite the setback the party's strong leadership base could help it regain its " lost glory".
Despite favourable exit polls for the DMK, the ruling party's confidence of retaining power appears to have been shaken.
On the other hand, AIADMK too had projected strong performance expecting to win at least 200 assembly seats.
However, TVK played spoilsport and is leading in more than 100 assembly constituencies across Tamil Nadu though the actor-turned politician's party is yet to cross the majority mark of 118.
Published on May 4, 2026