CHENNAI: Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekarbabu on Sunday said that the BJP count of four MLAs in the Assembly will be reduced to zero in the upcoming 2026 elections.
His rebuttal comes in the backdrop of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark claiming that the people of Tamil Nadu would soon dethrone the DMK government. Joining the issue, Sekarbabu said that she (Nirmala Sitharaman) may be referring to the change in the BJP's fate, as it will be wiped out from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 2026.
“The INDIA bloc punctured the BJP’s tall claims of winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and brought them to their knees. That is what we call change,” said minister Sekarbabu, responding to a question about Sitharaman’s prediction of a regime change in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly elections.
Though the BJP currently has four MLAs, not a single representative from the party would enter the Tamil Nadu State Assembly after the elections early next year, Sekarbabu said.
The minister also defended the use of HR&CE funds to set up educational institutions. Educational institutions were constructed using the resources of HR&CE temples during the tenures of former Chief Ministers K Kamaraj, M Bakthavatsalam, and M Karunanidhi, and this practice continued during the AIADMK regime as well, the minister said. The Chief Minister MK Stalin-led government is undertaking similar measures to establish educational institutions, following the footsteps of his predecessors, said the minister, after inspecting the ongoing construction works for the Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College in the Kolathur constituency, which is being built at a cost of Rs 25 crore.
Facilities, including 22 classrooms, are being built at Poompuhar Nagar, coming up under the limits of CM Stalin’s home constituency, Kolathur. The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of a shelter with a capacity to accommodate 100 orphaned and homeless senior citizens, which is being built at a cost of Rs 8.88 crore.