Selvaperunthagai says Amit Shah avoided naming Palaniswami as CM candidate

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai on Saturday stepped up his attack on the BJP, accusing the Union government of large-scale corruption and questioning the credibility of its alliance with the AIADMK.

Responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally in Tirunelveli, Selvaperunthagai said Shah, while vowing to unseat the DMK, had pointedly avoided naming AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami as the Chief Ministerial candidate. “This shows the fragility of the alliance. It is not one of conviction but of compulsion, stitched together under pressure from central agencies,” he said, adding that the coalition would be rejected in 2026.

He contrasted the BJP’s track record with that of the ruling DMK, noting that in the last four years, no corruption case had been filed against the State government. “On the other hand, the BJP regime has been plagued by scandals from Rafale and demonetisation to the electoral bonds scam and the CAG’s revelations on highway contracts. Favouritism towards corporates such as Adani and Ambani is nothing but mega corruption,” he charged.

Selvaperunthagai also hit out at the Centre for “Hindi imposition” through the three-language formula, the continuation of NEET, and what he described as token allocations for Tamil language development. “Even if Amit Shah visits Tamil Nadu a thousand times, the BJP will not find acceptance here,” he said.