CM Stalin: Will protect State, won't fall at Delhi's feet like EPS

CHENNAI: Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Tuesday said the BJP was daydreaming of gaining a foothold in Tamil Nadu, asserting that such dreams would never come true as long as the CN Annadurai-founded party remained in the State.

Addressing a training programme for party administrators titled ‘My Voting Booth: Winning Voting Booth’ at Mahabalipuram, Stalin said the 2026 Assembly election would determine whether Tamil Nadu would continue to stand tall with its unique identity and self-respect or fall under a servile administration that bowed to Delhi.

He warned that forces hostile to Tamil interests, both overtly and covertly, were working to destroy the State, and urged DMK cadre to ensure that the alliance captured every constituency to protect Tamil Nadu’s land, language and dignity.

Stalin said Tamil Nadu was facing a concerted social, political and economic onslaught. He cited what he described as injustices imposed through national policies in the name of India, such as Sanskrit, GST, the new education policy, NEET, various laws, and directives from the Governor. These, he said, amounted to an attack on the State, which only the DMK had the strength and will to resist.

The Chief Minister said the BJP’s dream of capturing Tamil Nadu would never materialise as long as the DMK remained in the State. Despite knowing this, the party continued to seek new shortcuts to achieve its aims.

Referring to the Election Commission’s decision to implement the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu next week, Stalin said it was being used as an instrument of intimidation. He pointed out that in Bihar, over 6.5 million people had lost their voting rights through the same exercise. The BJP-led Union government, he said, was using the Election Commission as its puppet to replicate the same model in Tamil Nadu.

He alleged that the BJP and its ally AIADMK hoped to win by removing the names of working-class voters, Scheduled Caste members, minorities and women from the rolls. Those who lacked the courage to face the people directly were resorting to the undemocratic tactic of denying them their voting rights, he said.

The DMK, Stalin said, had urged the Election Commission to drop the SIR process or at least ensure transparency and adequate time for corrections. He warned that any attempt to proceed unlawfully would be resisted legally and politically alongside the people.