Tamil Nadu: Stalin sounds poll bugle, says AIADMK has gone fully under BJP’s control

DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the AIADMK, alleging that the opposition party had gone fully under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

 

He was addressing the party’s general council meeting in Madurai.

 

Taking a dig at the pre-poll alliance between AIADMK and BJP, Stalin said Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami was making an attempt to bring the entire state of Tamil Nadu under the saffron party's control.

 

“But it will not happen and no (Amit) Shah can rule Tamil Nadu," he said.

 

"When the AIADMK-BJP alliance was announced by Amit Shah, Palaniswami did not even utter a word...only those who lead the alliance in the state usually announce the alliance. However, here, Amit Shah announced it. This showed that the AIADMK has fully gone under the control of the BJP,” said Stalin.

 

The chief minister further told partymen that people need to be told on what might happen if a BJP-led alliance came to power in the state. 

 

"People need to be told that they will not allow children to get educated, there will be no industrial growth, they will destroy Tamil Nadu's unique characteristics by imposing Hindi and by way of cultural imposition,” he said.

 

Stalin’s all-out attack on the opposition came a day after he held a 20-km road show in the temple city, which many see as the launch of DMK’s campaign for the 2026 assembly elections.

 

The general council, the DMK’s highest policy-level decision making panel, is meeting in Mdurai after a gap of 48 years. The last time it was held here was in 1977 when late DMK leader K. Anbazhagan was eleccted as the general secretary, a post he had held till his death.

 

"Madurai is a land of sacrifice, where many people worked hard for the party. It is a matter of pride that the meet is happening in such a place. Ever since the party was founded (1949), general council meetings have been held six times in Madurai and this is the seventh time. This is the general council which is going to pave the way for the party to form the government for the seventh time,” Stalin said.

 

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due by April-May 2026.

India