CHENNAI: State Municipal Administration Minister and DMK principal secretary KN Nehru hit out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for his “red carpet” invitation to the ruling party’s allies for the 2026 Assembly polls and said that the allies of the incumbent and the state people know that the invitation was not a red carpet but a blood carpet of fascist BJP and hence they spurned it.

In a strongly-worded statement issued late Saturday, Nehru said, “Has the same Palaniswami who criticises our allies, ever criticised the BJP? Unable to respond to the reiteration of Amit Shah that it will only be a coalition government, does a cowardly Palaniswami deserve to talk about the allies of the DMK?” he wondered, and emphasised that the people will reject the BJP-AIADMK combine in 2026.

“Palaniswami, please change the tagline of your tour. Change it from ‘Save people, rescue Tamil Nadu’ to ‘Save in-law; safeguard in-law’s money’ or ‘forget people, sell Tamil Nadu’ or ‘Save son, rescue his father-in-law’ and proceed with your enslaved BJP campaign,” he said.

Recalling EPS’s failed attempt to stitch together an alliance for the 2024 Parliamentary polls after snapping ties with the BJP, Nehru said, “Not one party joined the AIADMK alliance.” Referring to the AIADMK’s repeated affirmations about cobbling up a strong alliance for the 2026 polls, the DMK principal secretary said, “Only the stature of EPS fell apart in the process. Bosses of EPS in Delhi are working out the alliance calculations of the AIADMK.”

Remarking that Palaniswami has undertaken a ‘Forget people; sell Tamil Nadu' campaign to hunt for allies since none except the BJP and TMC (Moopanar) are a part of the alliance, Nehru said, “In the Kovai rally, he said that the Communists were gradually waning to the state of non-existence in TN. In Chidambaram, he openly offered a red carpet invitation to the VCK and Communist parties, leaving the voters confused, whether the person who spoke in Coimbatore and Cuddalore was the same.”

“Allies of the DMK and the people know that the carpet (invitation) offered by EPS was not a red one, but blood-stained by the fascist BJP. Hence, the communist parties and the VCK spurned Palaniswami’s invitation. Even a few days before reviving ties with the BJP, Palaniswami cursed that the allies of the DMK would never grow. The same person is now pleading for alliance,” Nehru remarked, quoting the vitriolic critique of AIADMK against the Left under various circumstances.