

VELLORE: Textiles Minister R Gandhi on Tuesday dismissed the plans of BJP state presidents to visit Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, asserting that such efforts would have no impact in the state.
Responding to a media query after inaugurating the crushing season at the Vellore Cooperative Sugar Mill, Gandhi said the party had “nothing to do” with the proposed visits. “Whoever comes, nothing will happen here. They are attempting to do in Tamil Nadu what they did in north India, but that will not work. This is Tamil Nadu, and it will not happen here,” he said.
Commenting on the union government’s decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as the Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Yojana, the minister said the move was “unnecessary”. He added that the Tamil Nadu chief minister was the only chief minister in the country to openly oppose the union government on such issues.