MADURAI: Setting the tone for 2026 Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the BJP-AIADMK combine will defeat the “corrupt DMK” and form a government in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking in a BJP office bearers meeting in Madurai, Shah said 2026 elections is crucial for the BJP-AIADMK alliance and directed cadres to work hard to dislodge the DMK from power.
“The DMK government has scaled new heights of corruption. The Tasmac liquor scam is worth Rs 39,000 crore. Poor people are dying after consuming illicit liquor due to corruption in the liquor trade,” Shah said adding “In southern districts of Tamil Nadu, caste-based violence is being instigated for political gains.”
Responding to CM Stalin’s earlier statement that “no Shah could defeat the DMK”, Amit Shah said people of Tamil Nadu themselves would defeat the party in 2026.
“The corrupt DMK government is diverting funds allotted by the central government funds for welfare schemes and is making poor people suffer. The DMK is a 100% failure government and has not fulfilled even 10% of the poll promises it made in 2021. Can Stalin prove he has fulfilled 90% of the promises?” he asked.
The Union Home Minister reiterated the need for DMK government to introduce Tamil in engineering and medical courses. “The central government is providing more funds than the UPA regime, but (CM) Stalin has not acknowledged it,” he said.
Further, Shah said the NDA will win in Tamil Nadu in 2026, similar to the victories it had secured in Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, and New Delhi, and form a government. “Not only in Tamil Nadu, the BJP will secure a victory in West Bengal also in 2026,” he added.
Shah also instructed functionaries to make the Murugan Manadu, scheduled to be held in Madurai on June 22, a grand success. “It is unfortunate that the state government has claimed the centuries-old Tiruparankundram hill of Lord Murugan as Sikkandar hill,” he said.
Continuing his attack, Amit Shah said the DMK government has failed to maintain law and order in Tamil Nadu, especially against women, and is riddled with corruption and drug mafia.
Minister of State L Murugan, TN BJP president Nainar Nagenthiran, former state president K Annamalai were present alongside him.
Shah also chaired a meeting with the state core committee members earlier in the day. In a post on X handle, Shah stated that the people of Tamil Nadu are fed up with the massive corruption of the DMK government and urged BJP cadres to reach out to every locality with Modi-led NDA’s vision for a prosperous and developed Tamil Nadu.
Earlier in the day, Shah offered prayers in the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. He was given a ‘Poorna Kumba Mariyathai’ by temple authorities led by chairperson Rukmini Palanivel Rajan. Madurai Aadheenam Sri La Sri Harihara Sri Gnanasambanda Desika Swamigal welcomed him en route to the temple. Shah left for New Delhi in the evening.