Chennai: Hours before his election visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that “Tamil Nadu is with the NDA,” expressing confidence that voters in the State were ready to “bid farewell” to what he described as the “corrupt DMK government.”
PM Modi's Tweet
In a post on X ahead of a rally in Madhuranthakam near Chennai, Modi said he would be joining leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) later in the day and claimed that the alliance’s governance record and commitment to regional aspirations were “striking a chord with the people of the State.”
“The NDA’s governance record and commitment to regional aspirations are striking a chord with the people of the state,” the Prime Minister said, signalling an aggressive push by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance to make electoral inroads in Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has traditionally remained a marginal player.
Responding sharply, Chief Minister M K Stalin rejected the Prime Minister’s claim, stating that “Tamil Nadu counts the betrayals of the NDA.” In a strongly worded quote tweet, the DMK president accused the Union government of repeatedly neglecting the State’s interests and failing to fulfil key commitments.
Mr. Stalin listed a series of demands and pending issues, including the release of ₹3,458 crore in Samagra Shiksha education funds, a categorical assurance that Tamil Nadu would not lose parliamentary constituencies during delimitation, and an end to what he termed the “arrogance” of a Governor allegedly functioning as a BJP agent.
He also sought clarity on pending financial allocations for Tamil language development, the future of employment schemes such as MGNREGA, and the fate of the long-delayed Madurai AIIMS project, which he sarcastically referred to as an “eighth wonder of the world” due to prolonged delays.
The Chief Minister further raised concerns over delayed disaster relief funds, the lack of approval for infrastructure projects such as the Hosur airport and metro rail proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, the non-publication of the Keezhadi excavation report, and the State’s long-standing demand for exemption from the NEET medical entrance examination.
“As long as the BJP-led alliance continues to betray Tamil Nadu, the people of the State will continue to defeat it,” Mr. Stalin said, adding the hashtag #NDABetraysTN to his post.
