'Ungaludan Stalin' petitions left to float on Vaigai, sign of DMK’s washout in 2026: EPS

CHENNAI: Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami denounced the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led government over the incident in which petitions submitted during the 'Ungaludan Stalin' special grievance camps were found floating in the Vaigai at Thiruppuvanam village in Sivagangai district.

Palaniswami stated that the people would deliver a fitting response to the government's arrogance in the upcoming Assembly elections, as a result of its failure to understand their anguish and address their grievances.

Posting the videos showing the petitions being retrieved from the river, Palaniswami said that the petitions “were floating in the waters of the Vaigai river like asthi (ashes). It is utterly condemnable.”

The AIADMK leader registered his strong condemnation through a post on the social media platform X. “When he was the Leader of the Opposition, he travelled across the state and collected petitions. But they remain locked away,” he said, ridiculing that “the key is still missing to unlock those petition boxes.”

Referring to previous instances, Palaniswami said that even after coming to power with a promise to abolish the NEET examination, the ruling DMK merely staged a lacklustre anti-NEET conference and collected signatures from students, only to treat them like rubbish and discard them.

“In the same manner, the ruling party has now staged yet another publicity stunt by launching 'Ungaludan Stalin.’ The petitions collected from the public during the special camps have met a similar fate,” he said.

Continuing in the same vein, Palaniswami added, “Without understanding the anguish, suffering and helplessness of the people, the Stalin-model government continues to deceive them with false promises of grievance redressal.”

He reiterated that the people of Tamil Nadu would give a decisive response to the ruling DMK in the 2026 Assembly elections.