The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), led by Anbumani Ramadoss, could push for a caste-wise enumeration as a condition for an electoral alliance in the 2026 State Assembly election, according to sources close to him.
All through his padayatra across PMK strongholds, Dr. Anbumani has been lambasting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for not conducting a caste-wise census, apart from raising issues of corruption and widespread proliferation of drugs in Tamil Nadu, and urged the PMK youth to get ready to ‘fill up the jails’ in protest against the DMK government.
While senior party leaders backing Dr. Anbumani believe that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami could be as reluctant as the DMK to support 10.5% separate reservations for Vanniyars within the Most Backward Classes before the election due to counter-polarisation, there is belief that the PMK could convince potential alliance partners to guarantee the conduct of a caste-census.
In an attempt to up the ante, Dr. Anbumani said the party would push for 15% reservations, instead of the 10.5% agreed to by the AIADMK, which had passed a law guaranteeing reservations in jobs and education within the MBC quota in 2021. “We cannot consider 10.5% as the upper ceiling. Even in 2021, the then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami made it clear that it (10.5% reservations) was temporary and that a caste census needed to be done and tweaked based on the data. If the population is found to be 18% for instance, how can 10.5% reservations be justified? So, caste census is an absolute must,” said a leader close to Dr. Anbumani.
In another development, PMK spokesperson K. Balu on Friday reiterated that the Election Commission of India had formally recognised the resolutions passed during the PMK’s general Body meeting held on August 9 extending the tenure of president Dr. Anbumani and general secretary Vadivel Ravanan until August 1, 2026.
