CHENNAI: Riding high after last year's Parliamentary poll and this year's legal victories against the BJP-led Union government, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday sounded the poll bugle for the ensuing Assembly polls and said that the version 2.0 of his Dravidian model government was loading for 2026. Stalin also said his government performed exceedingly well by overcoming the obstacles imposed by a snake-like union government, Fox-like state governor and fund crunch.

Making the bold electoral prediction in his last full-budget reply of the incumbent tenure in the State Assembly, CM Stalin proclaimed his regime as an "achievement government" and said, "Whatever achievement was witnessed so far is only the Part-I of the Dravidian Model government. Version 2.0 is loading for 2026. Will create more records then. Tamil Nadu will create history."

Wrapping up the reply for the debate on demand for grants for his home department in the House with the parting words, Stalin said, “As I enter my fifth year as the state Chief Minister, I would like to announce from the House with certainty. My journey will continue. It will continue for Tamil Nadu, Tamils and state rights."

Countering Stalin’s declaration that the ‘Dravidian Model 2.0’ version is loading for 2026, Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami asserted that there would be only one version in 2026 — the TN AIADMK version.

Delivering a pointed message to rebut the DMK chief's statement, Palaniswami posted on his X handle that the AIADMK will be the only choice in the forthcoming 2026 Assembly elections, using the hashtag #ByeByeStalin.

He shared a video highlighting a series of controversial incidents, including the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, students allegedly carrying sickles in school bags, the Anna University sexual assault case, and the Vengaivayal water contamination issue, as examples of governance failure.