VIRUDHUNAGAR: With the Assembly election approaching, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday launched into a diatribe against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami “for not raising his voice against the centre for denying funds to Tamil Nadu”, even as he (Stalin) accused the BJP-led union government of zeroing the state out of the Union Budget.
Addressing the DMK Youth Wing Southern Zone office-bearers’ meeting in Kalkurichi, the CM alleged that Palaniswami has chosen to “act as a branch secretary of BJP” instead of taking up the matter of “centre withholding funds to TN” with the union government and speaking out against it.
Stalin also criticised Palaniswami’s stand on VB-G RAM G, accusing him of lacking clarity on the legislation and its financial implications for states.
Stalin alleged that the union government completely ignored the state in the Union Budget, saying it had made zero allocation to TN despite the political context.
He said that during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, he had declared “Narpadhum Namade” and they went on to win all 40 seats. Similarly, for 2026, the target is “Velvom Iranooru” (victory in 200 seats).
Highlighting the performance of the DMK government, the CM claimed TN has emerged as a superstar state, topping national and international rankings across sectors. However, he alleged that despite these achievements, the state continues to be denied its rightful share of funds by the centre.
Stalin listed pending demands, including education funding, Metro rail assistance, disaster relief funds, exemption from NEET, approval for the Hosur airport, construction of the Madurai AIIMS hospital, release of the Keezhadi report, and a fair share of tax devolution. “We need to ensure that the NDA is reduced to zero in the forthcoming Assembly election, just like the rout in 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” he added.
Stalin said he has been closely observing the functioning of Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and noted that the DMK Youth Wing is being built in a systematic manner, with leadership being identified and trained from the booth-level up to the state-level.
Exuding confidence that the DMK would return to power again, Stalin cautioned party workers against complacency and urged them to campaign relentlessly till the final moment, reaching out to both traditional DMK supporters and first-time voters. Udhayanidhi Stalin took a swipe at the BJP, saying that the states ruled by the saffron party (such as Bihar and UP) have not achieved even half the growth recorded by TN.