On Prospects Of BJP-AIADMK Tie-Up In Tamil Nadu, Nirmala Sitharaman Says...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu is united for one goal: "DMK should not come back to power in 2026".

At the NDTV Profit GST Conclave, Ms Sitharaman was asked about the prospects of the BJP-AIADMK alliance in the state, in the context of an internal fight in the party led by Edappadi K Palaniwami (EPS).

"Post the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been very keen to get back its NDA alliance to strength and therefore every effort was made to get all the allies back and there is one clear unanimity among all members of the NDA alliance and to a large extent the people of Tamil Nadu that DMK should not come back to power in 2026," she said.

"Why is there unanimity? Because of the extent to which things are going in Tamil Nadu, not just about the liquor policy, but also the drugs which have gotten into the society. Tamil Nadu has never seen this kind of situation," she added.

In April, the BJP and AIADMK announced an alliance for next year's assembly election in Tamil Nadu. They contested the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly elections together but lost both. They contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election separately but, again, were thumped by the DMK.

Criticising the MK Stalin-led DMK, the Finance Minister said, "It is also very clear that even the DMK is far removed from its own ideology. If you want to believe that its own ideology was social justice, which is what they normally say, 'we are building a society, everybody is going to be equal', (but) Tamil Nadu has seen one of the highest of honour killings. Villages which are dominated by the scheduled caste, for instance, have seen unbelievable crimes."

"In one particular village where SCs are the majority, the drinking water source was polluted with human excreta, and the government hasn't taken any concrete action against those who had done that till today. Similarly, in another village, spurious liquor killed many adults, including women in the village. Concrete action is missing," she added.

She also cited the RG Kar College rape case in Kolkata and said, "Tamil Nadu Anna University had a similar incident like the RG Kar Hospital case. There was an attack on a woman student, and it so happened that the culprit was closely associated with the first family ruling Tamil Nadu."

"So, today there is near unanimity among people among political parties - you may be in alliance, you may be out of it, but there is a clear understanding that another 5 years for Tamil Nadu with DMK and the state will go backwards. So that unanimity among the NDA members is also recognised, and all of us have come together," she said.

She, however, refused to comment on the internal differences of the AIADMK. "I am sure they will resolve it on their own," she said.

The buzz on rising tensions within the AIADMK intensified when senior leader and nine-time MLA K Sengottaiyan was stripped of all party posts, while several of his supporters were also removed from their organisational positions. The move followed his request to the EPS to bring back expelled leaders like V.K. Sasikala, TTV Dhinakaran, and O. Panneerselvam.