How does a political party change the narrative in a region where it routinely gets routed by its opponent? Reset the rules of the game, perhaps. That’s what the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has attempted to do in the delta region in Tamil Nadu by co-opting a well-heeled individual whose principal strength is her considerable wealth.

Of the 41 constituencies in the central “delta” districts of the State, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance had won 37 seats in 2021. The AIADMK managed to win only in Orathanadu, Viralimalai, Vedaranyam, and Nannilam. This is a cause of major concern in the AIADMK alliance.

Money plays a very important part in any election, and the 2026 Assembly election is no exception. Nowhere is this more evident than in the AIADMK’s decision to field Leema Rose Martin, wife of lottery baron Santiago Martin, in Lalgudi in Tiruchi district. A class VI dropout who later acquired a few honorary doctorates, she joined the AIADMK on February 17, 2026, and was immediately appointed women’s wing joint secretary.

Lalgudi has a significant number of people belonging to the Wodeyar community, which Leema Rose belongs to. She reportedly made a generous donation to the party too, apart from promising to fund a few candidates in the region. “As soon as she joined the party, the AIADMK leadership asked her to work in Lalgudi,” said a leader. The town is a DMK stronghold with A. Soundara Pandian holding the seat from 2006. In 2021, Pandian widened his margin to about 10 percentage points, up from the two percentage points in 2016. This time, the party has fielded Tha. Parivallal.

Referring to Leema Rose, DMK leader and Deputy Chief Minister Udayanidhi Stalin said during a roadshow in the town: “You know who the opposition candidate is in Lalgudi. Do you know what the aim of that family is? It is to somehow bring lottery tickets back into Tamil Nadu [sale of lottery tickets was banned in the State in 2003] and destroy the people of Tamil Nadu.” This has been DMK’s line of campaigning in the constituency.

No stranger to politics

Leema Rose is no stranger to politics. She had joined the Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), a single leader party floated by a person who runs several educational institutions, about 14 years ago. The leader, Pari Vendhar, was part of the DMK alliance in 2019 and was elected an MP from Perambalur. Many are of the opinion that the IJK was primarily started to provide its leader access to politicians in Delhi and insulate him from crackdown by enforcement agencies. Leema Rose, who had lot more money to worry about, has been seen as a threat to IJK’s leadership in recent times. That was when the AIADMK began looking for a person to break through the DMK stranglehold in the delta region. That was also the time when Leema Rose started looking for a political party to migrate to.

The Martin family seems keen to secure a presence across political parties. Leema Rose’s son Jose Charles Martin started a party in Puducherry and is part of the National Democratic Alliance. The Union Territory went to polls on April 9, and Charles is expected to win from Kamaraj Nagar. Charles kept the media in the Union Territory well supplied with advertisements during the campaign, a strategy that Leema Rose too has adopted. Recently, a newspaper carried her picture alongside a long list of established leaders—Ministers and former Ministers—who are contesting from the “delta” districts.

With her husband’s interests in lottery, gaming, real estate and hospitality, she has declared assets of Rs.1,049 crore in her affidavit, which puts her far ahead of other candidates in the State.

Actor Joseph Vijay, is a distant second with Rs.600 crore of declared assets and cash. Leema Rose is an accused in two cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), according to her affidavit. These cases form part of the ED’s investigation into the lottery scam. In 2012, unaccounted cash of about Rs.7.2 crore was seized from her premises and she claimed that this was from a property sale. Though a lower court closed the case in 2022, the High Court revived the case in 2024, and ordered the ED to conduct a thorough investigation. She has not been convicted in any of the cases so far.

The DMK was aware of her candidature from the time she joined the AIADMK and hence changed a few of its candidates. This time around, the DMK itself is contesting in 30 seats in the delta region. The party has renominated 18 sitting MLAs, and has dumped eight in favour of younger faces. The known DMK faces—Ministers K.N. Nehru, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, and T.R.B. Raja—have not been disturbed. The party has also managed to pull former AIADMK Minister R. Vaithilingam, to its side. As a reward, he has been given his original constituency, Orathanadu, from where he won in 2021.

Former Minister and AIADMK leader O.S. Manian will continue to contest from Vedaranyam, and is expected to keep the flock together. AIADMK’s C. Vijayabaskar, former Health Minister, may retain his Viralimalai seat. Right now, these two seats appear sure shot wins for the AIADMK. While AIADMK’s strength is enhanced partly because of the presence of T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, its biggest headache is former AIADMK leader Sasikala who has put up candidates across the region. Sasikala, like Dhinakaran, hails from Mannargudi, and has been drawing decent crowds even in areas where her influence is minimal.

Dhinakaran is not contesting this time and is working to ensure the victory of his candidates. He is Sasikala’s nephew and they were together during the good times when Jayalalithaa was alive. Even after Dhinakaran was expelled from the AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, the two remained in touch. Sasikala has the support of 7,000 to 10,000 people from her community (Thevar-Kallar) and Dhinakaran’s task is to manage Sasikala and ensure that her sympathisers vote for the Two Leaves symbol.

This is easier said than done. “Sasikala is campaigning very hard,” said a Tiruchi-based journalist. “She has not campaigned like this so far,” he added. This fact is confirmed by the daily campaign bulletins put out by her office. AIADMK leaders themselves find this hard to believe. One leader wondered whether she would campaign this hard if she did not have the tacit backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The wild card in the field is actor-turned-politician Vijay, who is contesting from Tiruchi (East). He is also contesting from Perambur in Chennai. Tiruchi (East) has a good number of minority votes (about 35 per cent) and Vijay is expected to make serious inroads into this DMK fortress. He chose this constituency to launch his election campaign in September 2025.

His main opponent is DMK’s Inigo S. Irudayaraj, the sitting MLA, who has his family in the constituency. This will be a close fight, but it appears that in the rest of the region, the DMK retains the upper hand.

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