Unlikely allies next to him, Modi’s Tamil Nadu campaign begins with sharp attack on Stalin’s DMK

Then, gesturing toward the ground, he said, “Friends, this is a floodgate of people I can see on this ground. It also sends a strong message to everyone that Tamil Nadu is ready for a change.”

In his speech, Modi repeatedly returned to the same theme: that the DMK government had exhausted its mandate and that the NDA represented stability and growth. “You gave given DMK an opportunity to rule, but they have caused enough trouble already,” he said. “Now the DMK govt is called CMC govt – Corruption, Mafia, Crime. It is a government working for the crime mafia. People have come to a decision to wipe them from this state.”

He accused the state government of failing on law and order and of pandering to criminals. “DMK govt has pledged our youth into the hands of the drug mafia,” he said, adding that women no longer felt safe and promising that “an NDA govt will ensure your safety”.

At one point, he noticed a child holding up a photograph. “Before I continue the speech, I can see a little child holding a photograph, I think that of my mother. Hand it over to me. Let my friends collect her address, and I will definitely write her a letter,” he said, drawing cheers.

The political attacks then resumed. He described the DMK as a party that functioned “for a single family,” saying that advancement depended on “family,” “corruption,” or “insulting our culture.” Referring to the recent Thirupparankundram controversy, he said the DMK and its allies, “for electoral benefits, have not even spared the judiciary and have insulted them too”. He declared that the party had become “the enemy of Tamil, Tamils and Tamil culture”.

Modi also sought to contrast the record of the BJP-led government at the Centre with the earlier Congress-DMK era. “Before 2014, when DMK-Congress ruled Delhi, a very small amount was allocated for Tamil Nadu,” he said. “And what the BJP government had sent to Tamil Nadu thereafter was three times higher than what the UPA gave for this state.”

He cited railway station upgrades, Vande Bharat trains, toilets, houses and drinking water connections as evidence of what he called the benefits of a “double engine” government. “In Tamil Nadu, BJP-NDA double-engine government formation has been confirmed now,” he declared.

The rally also served as a carefully staged display of unity among an otherwise fractious opposition. Sharing the dais were Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK general secretary; BJP’s K Annamalai; PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss; and a long list of regional allies. But the most closely watched figure was TTV Dhinakaran, leader of the AMMK, who returned to the NDA this week.

For the first time since his expulsion from the AIADMK in 2017, Dhinakaran sat on a stage with Palaniswami – a pairing that once seemed politically unthinkable.

If there was tension, it did not show. Dhinakaran adopted an unexpectedly conciliatory tone, crediting both Modi and Palaniswami for bringing factions together.

“To put an end to the family dynasty,” he said, aligning his rhetoric with the Prime Minister’s. “We have come here accepting the leadership of both PM Modi and AIADMK chief Palaniswami.” Acknowledging past differences, he added, “It is a fact that there were disagreements between us (with the Palaniswami-led official AIADMK faction). But for the welfare of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK, we accepted the invitation of PM Modi to unite here, to not miss an opportunity that we lost in 2021.”

He invoked the legacy of the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. “We are followers of Amma… We belonged to the same family… Forgetting all differences, we have decided to join hands here to bring a people’s government,” he said.

The language – of family, reunion and necessity – suggested reconciliation rather than rivalry, a notable shift for a leader who had long resisted any arrangement that projected Palaniswami as the alliance’s face.

Palaniswami, in turn, sharpened the attack on the DMK. “Corruption is the only thing the DMK government is engaged in,” he said. “Karunanidhi family members alone get a space in DMK. Udhayanidhi is elevated to Deputy CM post just for the reason that he was born in the DMK family.” The election, he said, would be about ending “corruption and family dynasty”.

Ahead of the rally, CM Stalin asserted that Tamil Nadu would “always pose setbacks” to the NDA, which he said had “continuously betrayed” the state. Stalin accused Modi of visiting Tamil Nadu only during the election season and posed several questions: When will Tamil Nadu receive its Rs 3,458 crore due under the Samagra Shiksha program? When will the AIIMS Madurai project materialise?

He also demanded assurances on constituency delimitation, NEET exemption, disaster relief, and infrastructure projects. Stalin criticised the NDA’s governance, asking when the “burdens” passed to the state under the VB-GRAM scheme would end.