Naam Tamilar Chief Coordinator Katchi Seeman examines the party’s performance in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections and the party’s way forward.
While Mr. Seeman’s spontaneous speeches led to a sustained growth in the party’s vote share from 1% in the 2016 Assembly elections to 8.2% (around 36 lakh votes) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party suffered a significant decline in the recent elections when its vote share fell to 4%, securing around 19 votes.
The failure is mostly attributed to the grand debut of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which attracted a sizeable section of the youth and took them probably from NTK.
Since the election loss, Mr. Seeman, himself relegated to the fourth seat in Karaikudi, has stepped back from regular meetings with journalists that have made him a household name in recent years.
Party sources said Mr. Seeman did not want to comment on every issue, but only when the situation called for it.
“The election results have given us a lot to think about. Mr. Seeman wants to understand what happened and we are discussing the way forward. Our strategy also needs to change,” said a close aide to Mr. Seeman.
Another close aide said Mr. Seeman wants to watch how the chief minister runs the affairs of the state government in the next few months.
Published – 15 May 2026 23:35 IST
