Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, on Friday, January 23, said Tamil Nadu would continue to pose setbacks to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led coalition of “continuous betrayal” of the State. This is on the same day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to address a major NDA rally at Maduranthakam in Chengalpattu district.
CM Stalin’s remarks came in response to a post by PM Modi, in which the Prime Minister said, “Tamil Nadu is with the NDA! I’ll be joining NDA leaders at the rally in Madhuranthakam later today. Tamil Nadu has decided that it’s time to bid farewell to the corrupt DMK government. The NDA’s governance record and commitment to regional aspirations are striking a chord with the people of the State.”
Responding to this, the CM alleged that the Prime Minister visited Tamil Nadu frequently only during election season and questioned the Union government’s commitment to the State’s longstanding demands. “Tamil Nadu counts the betrayals of NDA,” he said in a social media post, asking when the State would receive Rs 3,458 crore pending under the Samagra Shiksha education scheme.
Raising a series of pointed questions, the Chief Minister sought assurances on key issues, including that there would be no reduction in Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary constituencies during the delimitation exercise, an end to what he termed the “anarchy” of Governor RN Ravi, and timely allocation of funds for Tamil language development. He also demanded clarity on the continuation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the withdrawal of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), which he said shifted financial burden to States and undermined rural livelihoods.
CM Stalin further flagged delays in major infrastructure and welfare projects, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai, disaster relief assistance, approval for the Hosur airport, and Metro Rail projects in Madurai and Coimbatore. He also sought the release of the Keeladi excavation report and reiterated Tamil Nadu’s unanimous demand for exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical admissions.
Meanwhile, the Maduranthakam rally marked the formal launch of the NDA’s Assembly election campaign in Tamil Nadu. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and other NDA leaders were expected to share the stage with the Prime Minister. BJP’s Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal said the rally was the first step towards ending what he described as the DMK’s “corruption-ridden government.”
Security was tightened in and around Maduranthakam and neighbouring Chengalpattu district ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, with elaborate arrangements including a helicopter landing facility, officials said. The NDA projected the rally as a show of alliance unity as the BJP stepped up its campaign against the ruling DMK in the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.