Daijiworld Media Network - Madurai
Madurai, Jun 8: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday declared that the NDA would form governments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026, taking direct aim at the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu by leveling multiple corruption charges, including allegations of a Rs 4,600 crore sand mining scam.
Addressing party office-bearers at a Karyakarta Sammelan (workers’ conference) in Madurai—a city Shah called the “city of change”—the Union Minister accused the DMK government led by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin of failing to deliver on its promises and being mired in corruption.
“Chief Minister Stalin says I cannot defeat the DMK, and he is right,” Shah said. “It is not me but the people of Tamil Nadu who will bring about that change,” he added, exuding confidence that the NDA alliance would unseat the DMK in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Shah alleged that the DMK’s misrule had affected the poor, women, and children across Tamil Nadu. “The DMK government has crossed all limits of corruption,” he declared, citing the Rs 4,600 crore sand mining scam and the Rs 1,000 crore TASMAC scam—referring to corruption in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation’s operations in alcohol distribution.
“Imagine, with Rs 39,775 crore—the scale of the TASMAC scam—we could have built at least two classrooms in each primary school across the state,” Shah remarked, adding that the DMK government had failed to fulfill even 60% of its 2021 election promises.
He also targeted the DMK over allegations of irregularities in the Centre’s Rs 450 crore nutrition kit program, accusing the government of awarding contracts to private firms, leading to graft.
Referring to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that claimed 66 lives last year, Shah said rampant corruption in the sale of illicit alcohol had cost the lives of the underprivileged.
“Crime and drug trade are rising in Tamil Nadu, yet Chief Minister Stalin remains indifferent,” he alleged.
Shah claimed that the NDA, led by the BJP and AIADMK, would form the next government in Tamil Nadu in 2026. He cited BJP’s election victories in states like Odisha, Haryana, Delhi, and Maharashtra as evidence that a similar transformation was on the horizon for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Highlighting the Modi government’s support to the state, Shah said, “The Centre has provided ?6.80 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu over the past 10 years, yet Stalin asks what the Centre has done.” He praised the Prime Minister for giving the “Sengol”—a historic symbol of Tamil heritage—its rightful place in the new Parliament building.
He also alleged that the DMK was encouraging caste-based violence in southern Tamil Nadu for political gains, and questioned why the state government hadn’t offered medical and engineering education in Tamil.
Shah paid tribute to freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and offered his respects at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple before addressing party leaders. He expressed regret at not being able to speak in Tamil.
Earlier in the day, Shah chaired a core committee meeting of the Tamil Nadu BJP and met with party leaders, including state president Nainar Nagendran, who described the alliance with AIADMK as “suitable” and praised Shah as “India’s Iron Man, another Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.”
Former state BJP president K. Annamalai also addressed the gathering, urging cadres to work tirelessly to unseat the DMK from power.
The BJP, Shah said, was committed to transforming Tamil Nadu by removing the “100% failure government” of the DMK and forming a corruption-free administration.