Chennai: At 73, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is trading the formal podium for Instagram reels in his outreach to young voters.
Under the campaign ‘Vibe With MKS’, Stalin holds informal conversations with school children, influencers, sportspersons and aspiring students—content that is deliberately non-political and meant for social media circulation as the 2026 Assembly elections approach. The series, conceived by Stalin himself and launched with a promo on 24 December 2025, is distributed across YouTube, Instagram and X.
The electoral arithmetic is obvious. According to Election Commission data, voters aged 18-29 constitute 20.7 percent of Tamil Nadu’s 5.67 crore electorate. This includes 12.51 lakh first-time voters aged 18-19, and over 1.05 crore in the 20-29 age group. Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is betting on reel-format content to reach an age cohort that, party strategists say, does not consume conventional news.
Curious.
Competitive.
Confident.
That’s the VIBE!#VibeWithMKS – coming to your feed tomorrow at 4 PM. pic.twitter.com/1m2F8FNMuf
— M.K.Stalin – தமிழ்நாட்டை தலைகுனிய விடமாட்டேன் (@mkstalin) December 23, 2025
“Youth are first-time voters shaped by reels and influencers, popular artists and sportspersons. Traditional methods of rallies and speeches are for a different audience and that doesn’t cut through for youngsters. Reels, memes and gifs are the ways to get to them and that’s how the CM is reaching to them, without making it political,” a member of Stalin’s strategy team told ThePrint.
He added, “It is not just about talking to sportspersons. The platform also serves as a tool for encouraging sports, which leads to youth development.”
In a standout episode, Stalin discussed sports with young athletes in a relaxed setting, dispensing with his characteristic veshti and the formalities of office. In the episode, he encourages participants to “get sporty” and fields candid questions on infrastructure challenges and the cost of technical up-skilling.
Another episode featured musicians from across the state. In this, the CM listens to their creative journeys and holds open conversations about their craft.
A striking exchange came from inside Stalin’s own chamber. He invited Deva and Jeeva, two brothers from Cuddalore district whose humorous Instagram reels urge children to study.
Deva told the Chief Minister he dreamt of becoming a Collector, and Jeeva said he wanted to be a policeman. The brothers themselves spoke warmly of the Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme, volunteering it as an achievement.
At the end of the episode, Stalin told them: “You’re doing great with reels, but focus on studies as much as making them to achieve your dreams.” The CM gifted them books and pens, and then shot a selfie reel that crossed lakhs of views within hours.
The DMK digital playbook
‘Vibe With MKS’ is a strand of a broader operation.
DMK’s information technology (I-T) wing has deployed edits of Katy Perry’s Woman’s World to connect with women voters, produced content featuring singer-producer Anirudh alongside Stalin’s appearances, and released Netflix-style reels, stickers, memes and GIFs.
The state’s Pudhumai Penn scheme, which provides Rs 1,000 monthly to women for funding higher education, and other skilling opportunities are being promoted through reel-format sessions with school children and aspiring students.
“While ‘Vibe with MKS’ is more of a GenZ connect initiative, our idea is also to identify and reach different types of audiences. Some of these collaborators are the ones with family audience of new parents and youngsters,” a DMK I-T wing member said.
“We can see that there is a reflection of content that these youngsters consume, so we try various types of edits, songs and memes,” he said.
Other leaders are following suit.
Kanchipuram legislator C.V.M.P. Ezhilarasan has launched ‘Chill with CVMP’ and Assembly Speaker M. Appavu holds ‘Talk with Appavu’.
Senior DMK leader and parliamentarian Kanimozhi Karunanidhi had earlier run ‘Youth Talks with Kanimozhi’, engaging students in college-based interactive sessions beyond political topics.
AI as an enabler
Behind the content, DMK members said the party has deployed artificial intelligence for real-time monitoring and fact-checking—particularly to counter misinformation that could undermine its youth outreach.
T.R.B. Rajaa, the state Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce, frames AI as their dedication to scientific temper.
“The speed at which fake news spreads today requires equally fast response, and we are doing this with the help of technology, real-time monitoring and coordinated digital systems. Compared to earlier elections, this cycle is far more digital, data-driven and AI-enabled. Booth-level digital agents and integrated platforms have improved precision and speed. These systems played a key role in our 2021 success and have since evolved significantly,” he said.
AI, he said, is used by the party to analyse feedback, generate targeted communication, create and edit content, translate at scale, and power platforms like tnmanifesto.ai, which aggregates public inputs into structured policy ideas.
Teams work with both in-house capabilities and external partners, with human judgement and ethical standards remaining central to all decisions, he said.
படிப்பை மட்டும் விட்றவே விட்றாதீங்க… எனக் கல்வியை முன்னிறுத்தி இன்ஸ்டாவில் கலக்கும் சிறுவர்கள்!
தேவா, ஜீவா உடன் உங்கள் ஸ்டாலின்.#VibeWithMKS pic.twitter.com/o0nDSkJYZL
— M.K.Stalin – தமிழ்நாட்டை தலைகுனிய விடமாட்டேன் (@mkstalin) March 14, 2026
The bigger picture
Political analyst Arun Kumar said the entry of actor Vijay, who founded the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, into electoral politics had made youth-targeted digital outreach more critical than ever.
Political strategist Aspire K. Swaminathan traced the concept of party I-T wings to former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and argued that the underlying purpose of reaching young voters was unchanged even as the media landscape has been transformed.
“The concept of I-T wings for political parties was initiated by former CM J. Jayalalithaa, with a purpose to reach out to the next generation voters who do not watch news. That purpose stands as it is, even in today’s scenario. Parties have also started growing their digital presence in recent years. They now take their political messaging to where the target audience is. While every party knows the platforms, DMK knows that their messaging has to be different to stand out,” he said.
Swaminathan highlighted DMK’s use of digital platforms to prepare its poll manifesto.
“They gathered online inputs for manifesto besides the traditional door-to-door survey. The CM is not an heir in waiting anymore, but he a commander now. Whatever he is doing offline is being amplified on social media,” he said, referring to Stalin’s father, DMK patriarch and late chief minister M. Karunanidhi.
Tamil Nadu goes to election on 23 April. Votes will be counted on 4 May.