Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday urged Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers to aim to win all Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2024 General Assembly elections, NDTV reported.

Stalin urged DMK workers to work towards a target of “40 out of 40”, referring to 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry. He made the statement shortly after being elected unopposed as the party president for the second time.

Stalin also said that the voters of Tamil Nadu “never mix politics and religion”.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the DMK-led alliance had won 38 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, while its ally, the Congress, won the Puducherry seat.

Stalin was first elected as the DMK chief following the death of his father, former chief minister M Karunanidhi, in 2018. Karunanidhi was elected as the first president of the DMK in 1969.

DMK founder CN Annadurai was the party’s general secretary from its inception in 1949 till his death in 1969.

Stalin should be CM for 20 years, says senior DMK leader

Meanwhile, DMK Deputy General Secretary E Periyasamy said on Sunday that he would like Stalin to be the chief minister for the next 20 years, ANI reported.

“I challenge them [Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] that even if a huge alliance is created, DMK can contest alone and defeat everyone in Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

At the party’s general council meeting on Sunday, DMK MP Kanimozhi was elected as a deputy general secretary, The Hindu reported. Meanwhile, state Irrigation Minister Duraimurugan was re-elected as the party’s general secretary, while former Union minister TR Baalu was elected as the treasurer.