Pudukottai (Tamil Nadu), Jan 4 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a scathing attack against the DMK regime in Tamil Nadu, calling it the most corrupt in the country, where a “20 per cent cut money” norm prevailed.
The senior BJP leader expressed confidence that the NDA would emerge victorious in the Assembly polls due this year in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Making a strong pro-Tamil pitch, Shah said that while Chief Minister M K Stalin made false accusations against the NDA of ignoring Tamil, it was the PM Modi-led regime that has implemented a slew of measures to promote the language.
He accused the DMK of consistently disrespecting Hinduism and the sentiments of Hindus in Tamil Nadu and for “failing” the farmers of the state.
Addressing a mega rally here to mark the culmination of a yatra undertaken by the party’s state president Nainar Nagenthran, Shah listed out the BJP-NDA’s wins since 2024, including a third consecutive victory in Haryana and the wins in Delhi and Bihar, and said it was now the turn of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to join the list.
By way of a robust alliance of AIADMK, BJP and others, the NDA will emerge victorious, he said, alleging that the DMK government has failed on all fronts.
The BJP’s grand public meeting here marked the culmination of Nagenthran’s state-wide yatra ‘Tamilagam Thalainimira Tamilanin Payanam’ (A Tamil’s yatra for Tamil Nadu’s rise) that commenced in Madurai on October 12.
Slamming the ruling DMK over alleged graft and claiming that it was “synonymous” with corruption, he asked if the state can progress with an “army of corrupt ministers.” “A DMK leader’s name has come up in a cash-for-jobs scam, that of another leader in money laundering,” he said.
Another leader was named in the “coal scam”, he said without naming anyone.
“Can Tamil Nadu’s progress happen with such an army of corrupt ministers. There is a 20 per cent corruption cut money. The state economy is running on debts and liquor sales,” Shah charged.
The DMK regime’s sole motive is to make Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi the CM and the dream to perpetuate dynasty rule would not come true and the time has come to put an end to family politics in Tamil Nadu, Shah said.
DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi (1924-2018) had been the CM. After him, his son M K Stalin became the chief minister and plans were there to elevate Udhayanidhi to the top public office of chief minister. Shah targeted the ruling party on a number of other issues as well.
He accused the DMK government of turning Tamil Nadu into a “dumping ground” for toxic biomedical waste from other states. Teachers, sanitation workers and nurses were forced to stage protest to secure their rights.
“There is no security for women in Tamil Nadu,” he said while criticising the ruling party and expressed confidence that the NDA will form the government in Tamil Nadu by April, 2026 following a win in Assembly polls.
The BJP-AIADMK alliance was a “natural” one and the two had fought the 1998 and 2019 parliamentary polls, besides the 2021 state elections.
The BJP veteran also slammed the Stalin government over “atrocities” on Hindus. He alleged Hindu forms of worship were being “insulted,” and claimed that during the Ayodhya Ram Temple bhoomi puja, an “unannounced curfew was imposed” in TN.
“Their senior leaders call Sanatan Dharma dengue, malaria. Hindu processions and visarjan (immersion of idols of Hindu deities) have been stayed. I want to tell Stalin; you have broken the constitutional ethos by committing atrocities against Hindus,” he said.
Praising Tamil language, he apologised for not being able to speak in the ancient language and listed initiatives of PM Modi-led Centre to promote Tamil. Such measures include introduction of Tamil in the civil services exams and efforts to teach Tamil in Fiji.
Subramania Bharati chair was set up to promote Tamil at Banaras Hindu University. Tamil classic Thirukkural was translated into 13 Indian languages and Railway announcements are made at stations across the state in Tamil.
On Tamil culture, he said the “Sengol” was installed in Parliament and Tamil Nadu leader CP Radhakrishnan was made the vice president. On financial front, he said during 2004-14, the UPA (in which DMK was a partner) provided about Rs 1.53 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu. However, the NDA government, from 2014 to 2024, has given over Rs 11 lakh crore to the state.
BJP leaders Piyush Goyal, Arjun Ram Meghwal, L Murugan, Tamilisai Soundararajan and Pon Radhakrishnan were among the leaders present.
Tamil Nadu BJP President Nagenthran, in his address, urged party workers to take a vow and slog to unseat the DMK from the saddle of power and targeted the Dravidian party over Thirupparankundram lamp lighting issue, the Karur stampede at TVK rally that claimed 41 lives and alleged dynasty politics as well.
For the sake of one family’s welfare, in order to make Udhayanidhi CM, the DMK was projecting its coalition as robust. While the DMK-led alliance was “fake”, the alliance formed by Amit Shah is meant to facilitate a regime change, which would happen for sure in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, he expressed confidence.
BJP’s key alliance partner in Tamil Nadu is the AIADMK. Almost at the same time of Shah’s address here in the evening, Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK chief and Leader of Opposition, addressed a party rally in Salem district. PTI VGN VGN SSK SA
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