Dravidian Model 'Version 2.0' loading for 2026 polls: CM Stalin

CHENNAI: Riding high on the DMK’s success in last year’s Parliamentary poll and this year’s legal victories against the BJP-led Union government, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday sounded the poll bugle for the upcoming Assembly polls, by saying "Version 2.0 loading in 2026,” expressing confidence that the DMK would secure power for the record seventh time in the state through their schemes and achievements.

Listing out the various achievements of the four-year-old DMK government, Stalin also said that his government had performed exceedingly well by overcoming obstacles imposed by a “snake-like union government, fox-like governor, and fund crunch.”

Describing his regime as an “achievement government, he said, “Whatever achievement was witnessed so far is only the Part-I of the Dravidian Model government. Version 2.0 is loading for 2026. Will create more records then. Tamil Nadu will create history.”

"My journey will continue for TN, Tamils, state rights"

Wrapping up the debate on demand for grants for his Home portfolio on the last day of the Budget session of the State Assembly, Stalin proclaimed, “Hail Tamil, victory for Tamil Nadu.” Borrowing the words of DMK founder CN Annadurai, he said, “Anna said – although Tamil Nadu is a part of the world, we will never allow it to be made the hunting ground of anyone. To achieve Anna’s dream, we secured a historic verdict and followed it up by constituting a committee for state autonomy. The journey I have begun is long. As I enter my fifth year as the state Chief Minister, I would like to announce from the House with certainty. My journey will continue. It will continue for Tamil Nadu, Tamils and state rights," he announced.

Listing out the many pioneering schemes of his government and the various growth indices that put the State on top at the national level, mainly the 9.69% economic growth of TN in 2024-25, Stalin said, “Tamil Nadu is creating record after record. Such records (achievements) were not made possible easily.”

Likening his government’s situation to that of a person trapped on all sides, the CM said, “Like a man facing a snake on top, foxes below, a moat if he jumped, and a wall if he ran, the Tamil Nadu government made achievements by overcoming the union government on one side, governor on the other side, and financial crunch on another side.

“These are not the achievements of Stalin, the individual. It is the benefit of the collective effort of my cabinet and officers. I do not project myself in everything. This is not the government of one political party. It is a government of an ideology. Hence, I call it the Dravidian model government. According to me, ideology and the movement must take precedence and strengthen,” Stalin thundered.

"Achieved a thousand times more than previous AIADMK tenure"

Taking a veiled dig at the recently-revived AIADMK-BJP alliance, the Chief Minister said, “We have achieved a thousand times more than the previous 10-year AIADMK regime in all departments. With that resolve and the confidence in the people, I declare: Tamil Nadu can never be plundered by those trying to mortgage (read as surrender) and those trying to appropriate it," he added.