CHENNAI: The AIADMK has witnessed a significant increase in the number of party members seeking to contest the upcoming Assembly elections, compared to the previous cycle.

The party has so far distributed over 9,700 application forms from December 15 to 23.

This figure marks a notable rise from the 2021 elections, when the party was in power and distributed 8,157 forms in total. Party officials attribute this heightened interest to increased internal cohesion and confidence in the leadership.

AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan claimed that during the last election, the party's dual-leadership structure—with positions of coordinator and joint coordinator—created uncertainty. He claimed that former coordinator O Panneerselvam had posed obstacles in allocating seats to strong candidates, discouraging many cadre who doubted they would get a fair chance to contest.

"At present, under our only leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, the party is more unified," Sathyan claimed. "There is confidence that even grassroots-level cadre will get opportunities. This belief has led more members to obtain forms this year."

In preparation for candidate selection, party sources revealed that Palaniswami had already gathered lists of potential nominees from district secretaries prior to the application process. Each constituency reportedly has a shortlist of four names submitted for review. The final selection of candidates will be based on these recommendations, as the AIADMK gears up for the electoral battle.

10-member panel to prepare manifesto

Meanwhile, the AIADMK has constituted a 10-member committee to draft its manifesto for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections. The committee members are Natham R Viswanathan, C Ponnaiyan, Pollachi V Jayaraman, D Jayakumar, CVe. Shanmugam, S Semmalai, B Valarmathi, OS Manian, RB Udhayakumar, and Vaigaichelvan.

This move follows the ruling DMK's recent announcement of its own 12-member manifesto committee, headed by deputy general secretary and MP K Kanimozhi.