Chennai: Pitching the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election as a battle between “development and decay”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the state was ready for a “double engine sarkar” under the NDA, declaring that “DMK’s countdown has begun”.
Addressing the NDA rally at Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district, Modi claimed the crowd itself was sending out a political message, not just across Tamil Nadu, but the country that the state was seeking “liberation from the clutches of the DMK”.
“The vast gathering here shows that Tamil Nadu is now ready for change. The DMK’s time is up,” Modi told the gathering.
Modi asserted that the NDA would form a coalition government in Tamil Nadu, stressing that a government aligned with the Centre was essential to accelerate development.
“A BJP–NDA double engine government is certain to come to power here. When the same government works in Chennai and Delhi, investors find it easier to invest. Development moves faster,” he said.
The “coalition government” has been a point of contention between the AIADMK and BJP. While BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have been pitching for a coalition government, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has been reiterating that the NDA alliance will win and AIADMK will form the government on its own.
Modi also made a passing reference to the Thirupparankundram issue, stating that the BJP leaders had stood with devotees of Lord Murugan at Thirupparankundram. The Thiruparankundram issue revolves around a recent court-ordered Karthigai Deepam (oil lamp) lighting at a sacred pillar on a hill shared by a major Murugan temple and a Muslim dargah, leading to protests.
Reacting to the PM’s speech, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin dismissed the “double engine” pitch as hollow rhetoric.
“The so-called ‘double engine’ is actually a dummy engine. It will never run in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said in a post on X.
Stalin said that Tamil Nadu had achieved historic development despite “every obstacle created by the BJP-led Union government”.
“Think for a moment. Compared to your double-engine states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, it is the states where your dummy engine has not entered—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal—that are flying high in development,” he said in a post on X.
Accusing the BJP of betraying the state, Stalin said the people of Tamil Nadu would never forget what he termed the party’s repeated injustices. “Even if you try to hide the BJP’s betrayals against Tamil language and Tamil Nadu, the people will never forget,” he said.
After returning to power in 2021, after a gap of 10 years, DMK has been dominating the elections in the state and it won all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
‘DMK branded CMC sarkar’
Criticising the ruling DMK at the NDA rally, PM Modi said the party had been given power twice but had “betrayed the trust” of people. “You gave the DMK a full mandate twice. They made heaps of promises but delivered zero work,” he alleged.
The Prime Minister said people across the state were now referring to the DMK government as a ‘CMC sarkar—Corruption, Mafia and Crime government’.
“There are only three or four ways to grow in the DMK—dynasty politics, corruption, disrespecting women and abusing Tamil culture,” Modi claimed.
He said Tamil Nadu needed to be freed from the DMK’s grip “as early as possible” to get back on the path of development.
Responding to the DMK’s long-standing allegation that the Centre was withholding funds from Tamil Nadu, Modi rejected the charge, saying the NDA government had released significantly higher allocations than the previous UPA regime.
“In the last 11 years, the NDA government has released nearly Rs 3 lakh crore for Tamil Nadu—three times more than what was given during the UPA period,” he said.
PM Modi also accused the DMK government of pushing the state’s youth into drug addiction. “The DMK government has handed over our youth to drugs and the drug mafia. Mothers are worried. Parents are watching their children being destroyed before their eyes,” he said.
Highlighting Centre-run welfare programmes, Modi said Tamil Nadu’s strength lay in its farmers and fishermen, who were benefiting from NDA policies.
He cited the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, under which fishermen are being provided deep-sea fishing vessels, and said 50,000 Kisan Credit Cards have been issued to fishermen, he said.
“There is immense potential for food processing in Tamil Nadu. We want the produce of farmers and fishermen here to reach global markets,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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