Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 23: Setting the stage for a high-stakes battles in the coming months, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday declared that the countdown has already begun for the exit of the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the LDF in Kerala with the NDA government knocking the doors in both the states which will go to polls during the year.
Mr Modi who was on a visit to the southern states, addressed a large gathering at Maduranthakam near Chennai where he dubbed DMK as a “CMC” government that stood for “Corruption, Mafia, and Crime” and asserted that the people of Tamil Nadu have decided to uproot the party and vote for change.
“Tamil Nadu now has a government that has nothing to do with democracy and accountability. The DMK government is only serving one family. If someone has to rise within the party, they only have three or four routes: dynasty, corruption, abusing women or abusing our culture,” he said in a possible dig at party chief MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin and his controversial remarks on Sanatan Dharma.
The NDA government at the Centre, the BJP leader said, has done unprecedented work for the development of Tamil Nadu. The Congress and DMK were also in power at the Centre before 2014, he pointed out, and said his government has allotted three times the money they did to Tamil Nadu. “In the name of the welfare of SC/STs and other disadvantaged groups, their government indulged only in corruption,” he alleged.
Promising that the NDA government will work for the upliftment of farmers and fishermen, the PM said drug and liquor mafias have prospered under the Stalin government. “There have been allegations of people in the DMK being hand-in-glove with the drug mafia. Every vote you cast in favour of the NDA will be a vote to free Tamil Nadu of the drug menace,” he said. Urging people to vote for a ‘double-engine’ government in Tamil Nadu – NDA in power at both the Centre and state – the PM said this will help attract investment.
In a scathing retort, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said the states that are actually doing well are the ones that do not have the BJP or NDA’s ‘double engine’ government. “Despite all the barriers imposed by the Union BJP government, Tamil Nadu has achieved the kind of development that history speaks of… Compared to the ‘double engine’ states you (PM Modi) mention – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar – states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka, and West Bengal are the ones soaring high in development,” he wrote in Tamil on X.
He also said Tamil Nadu would always pose setback to the NDA which had been “continuously betraying” the State. In a post on social media, Mr Stalin alleged that Mr Modi frequently visited Tamil Nadu only when elections approached. Mr Stalin was responding to a tweet by Mr Modi, who said, “Tamil Nadu is with the NDA!”
The Prime Minister, in his tweet, said: “I’ll be joining NDA leaders at the rally in Madhuranthakam later today [Friday]. Tamil Nadu has decided that it’s time to bid farewell to the corrupt DMK government. The NDA’s governance record and commitment to regional aspirations are striking a chord with the people of the State.”
Countering his claim, Mr Stalin asked: “When will the State receive its due of ₹3,458 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Programme? When will he [Mr Modi] assure Tamil Nadu that there will be no reduction in the number of constituencies during delimitation? When will the atrocities of Governor [R.N. Ravi], who functions as the BJP’s agent, come to an end? When will his [Mr Modi’s] regime, which projects itself as having greater affinity for the Tamil language than Tamils themselves, allocate the funds due to the Tamils? When will there be an assurance that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will continue and that the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAM G), which passes the burden to States and undermines livelihood opportunities, will be abandoned?”
The Tamil Nadu Government also moved a resolution in the State Assembly opposing the Union Government’s VB-G Ram G scheme [replacing MGNERGS).
In Kerala, appealing to the people to provide a “decisive mandate” to the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections, Mr Modi said the state needed the “doubles engine government” for it to draw the entire benefit of the developmental efforts at the national level. He was addressing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s ‘Mission Kerala’ rally in Thiruvananthapuram.
Though there were intense speculations that Mr Modi would announce big-ticket developmental projects for Kerala, including a high-speed railway corridor and a metro line for the capital, he did not specifically mention any project while making a pitch for ‘Vikasita Keralam’ (Developed Kerala).
Mr Modi accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of “denying the benefits” of Centrally sponsored schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana urban housing project and the PM SHRI project for schools, to the people of the State. In his first visit to the Kerala capital after the BJP captured power in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the recently concluded local body elections, he said the win in the Corporation was “historic and a harbinger of change across the State.”
“Whenever I have come to Kerala, you have given me your love. But, this time, I can sense a new hope here. Your energy gives me belief that change will happen in Kerala. Before 1987, the BJP was inconsequential in Gujarat. But that year, we won the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, just like how it now won in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. People saw our work there and gave us power in the entire State. Just like that, in Kerala, our journey has started from a city,” he said.
He alleged that the capital had been “kept backward in development” as the LDF and the Congress-led UDF had indulged in corruption. “The BJP’s team has now started working with a vision for Thiruvananthapuram. Whatever has not changed till now, will change now. Thiruvananthapuram will become a model city for the entire country,” he said.
Mr Modi said the upcoming Assembly elections will change Kerala’s direction. “The people of the State have till now witnessed only corruption, bad governance and appeasement, but the BJP’s arrival will change that. The flags and symbols of the LDF and the UDF may be different, but their politics and agenda are the same. These parties have zero accountability and responsibility as they know that each of them will get a chance after five or 10 years. The system remains the same, even if the government changes. Only the BJP can bring about change to this state of affairs,” he said.
Later Mr Modi flagged off three new Amrit Bharat Express trains and one passenger train for Kerala. The Thiruvananthapuram-Tambaram Amrit Bharat Express (from Thiruvananthapuram Central station), the Nagercoil-Mangaluru Amrit Bharat Express (from Thiruvananthapuram Central station), the Thiruvananthapuram-Charlappalli Amrit Bharat Express (from Thiruvananthapuram North station) and the Thrissur-Guruvayur Passenger Train (from Thrissur station) departed for their destinations from the respective stations soon after the ceremony.
As part of efforts to strengthen urban livelihood, Mr Modi has also launched the PM SVANidhi Credit Card, marking the next phase of financial inclusion for street vendors. The UPI-linked, interest-free revolving credit facility will provide instant liquidity, promote digital transactions, and help beneficiaries build formal credit histories. The Prime Minister has also disbursed PM SVANidhi loans to 1 lakh beneficiaries, including street vendors from the State.
The foundation stone for the CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub was also laid here on the occasion. The hub will focus on life sciences and bio-economy, integrate traditional knowledge systems such as Ayurveda with modern biotechnology, sustainable packaging, and green hydrogen, and promote start-up creation, technology transfer, and global collaboration. It will serve as a platform for converting research into market-ready solutions and enterprises.
The foundation stone for a state-of-the-art radiosurgery centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology was also laid. The facility will provide highly precise, minimally invasive treatment for complex brain disorders, enhancing regional tertiary health-care capabilities. The Prime Minister also inaugurated a new head post office at Poojappura on the occasion. The modern, technology-enabled facility will offer a comprehensive range of postal, banking, insurance and digital services, further strengthening citizen-centric service delivery.
