CHENNAI: Criticising the DMK for denying representation to the fishing community in its candidate list for the 2026 Assembly elections, the Neithal Makkal Katchi, an association representing the community, warned that the ruling party would face the consequences, especially across coastal constituencies.

At a press meet held in Chennai on Thursday, party leader K Bharathi said there was not even a single candidate from the traditional fishing community in the list of candidates for 164 constituencies that the DMK announced. Terming it a "historical error", he noted that across the 14 coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, around 608 fishing villages fall under 37 Assembly constituencies where fishermen play a decisive role in elections.

It was customary for major political parties, including the DMK and AIADMK, to allocate a minimum number of seats to fishermen, Bharathi said.

However, in the 2021 Assembly elections, the DMK allotted only one seat to a person from the community, KP Shankar, who won from Tiruvottiyur. Despite his victory, he was not given the Fisheries portfolio, which instead went to a non-fisherman.

Repeated demands over the past five years to appoint a person from the community as the Fisheries Minister were ignored by Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin, he alleged. He also criticised the ruling DMK for not including the long-pending demand to include traditional fishermen in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list in its manifesto for 2026 election.

Terming this as an attack on social justice, Bharathi warned that the fishing community would work against the DMK in all coastal constituencies if their demand for political representation was not addressed.