AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami at an election meeting in Neyveli in Cuddalore district on Sunday.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of plunging Tamil Nadu into unprecedented debt, which, he said, was the DMK’s achievement.
Addressing an election meeting in Neyveli, Mr. Palaniswami said, “In five years, the DMK government headed by Chief Minister [M.K. Stalin] has borrowed ₹5 lakh crore. This is Mr. Stalin’s achievement.”
When the AIADMK forms the next government, all the funds that were allegedly misappropriated would be recovered and the treasury replenished, he said.
Response to DMDK
Referring to DMDK general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant’s statement that he did not keep his promise of giving one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK, as was agreed in the electoral pact between the two parties during the 2024 Parliamentary polls, Mr. Palaniswami said, “I had publicly announced on television that if the DMDK allies with the AIADMK and wins in 2026, an MP seat would be given. But now, the party leader is speaking differently.”
When ‘Captain’ (Vijayakant) was alive, the DMDK had fiercely opposed the DMK, he said.
Referring to the DMK’s poll promise of ₹8,000 appliance coupon for housewives, Mr. Palaniswami said the DMK only announced schemes that benefited the Chief Minister’s family, and that the coupon was also a conspiracy.
He further said that Mr. Stalin had no right to call the AIADMK betrayers and that the Chief Minister and his father, DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, would be known as betrayers in history. Mr. Karunanidhi had betrayed fishermen by handing over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, he said.
Published – April 06, 2026 12:01 am IST
