Stalin To Continue As Tamil Nadu's 'Caretaker' CM Until New Govt Forms, Resignation Accepted By Governor

Chennai: A day after the shocking poll defeat in the state assembly elections, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President MK Stalin on Tuesday resigned as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, party sources said.

The resignation letter was forwarded to the office of Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who accepted it and asked the former to continue as caretaker Chief Minister until the new government is formed.

In the assembly polls, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 108 seats, and is the single largest party in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. DMK, which won 59 seats, has emerged as the principal opposition party. The AIADMK, on the other hand, has won 47 seats.

This morning, Stalin expressed gratitude to the people of the state for supporting the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance in the Assembly elections, calling each vote an "invaluable token of trust". He said in a post on X, "I express my heartfelt and sincere gratitude to all the people of Tamil Nadu who voted for the candidates of the secular progressive alliance led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly general elections. I consider each and every one of your votes as an invaluable token of trust."

In his post, Stalin said the DMK alliance received 1,54,82,782 (1.54 crore) votes and noted that the winning side secured only about 17.43 lakh more votes, with a vote share difference of just 3.52 per cent.

Reflecting on the result, Stalin said the DMK has seen both victories and defeats in its political journey and will remain committed to its ideology. "What we will always be cautious about is that our ideology should not suffer defeat," he said.

The senior leader said DMK will continue to serve people whether in power or in opposition. "If we are the ruling party, we will formulate schemes for the people. If we are in the opposition, we will fight for the people's demands. Now as a strong opposition party, we will continue politics for the people," he said.

"Following in the footsteps of father Periyar, the great scholar Anna, and the leader of the Tamil race Karunanidhi, we will continue the journey of implementing the policies of the century-old great Dravidian movement, protecting race, language, and nation. In our journey, I will not leave anyone behind. We will win again!" Stalin added.