
No anti-incumbency, no bunch of clowns can defeat DMK, says Stalin
Madurai: Sounding the poll bugle for the 2026 assembly election, chief minister
M K Stalin
launched a caustic attack on his political opponents on Sunday, stating that 'no bunch of clowns can defeat
DMK
.'
Addressing party functionaries at the party's general council meeting at Uthangudi in Madurai, Stalin said there was no anti – incumbency against the DMK govt. `"Rather, there is a wave of pro–incumbency. The support for DMK is much stronger than opposition,'' he said.
Stalin said DMK was alive to uphold ideology and its endeavour to win election was to spread the ideology. "That's why no bunch of clowns could defeat us so far.
They will never be able to defeat in the future too,'' he said.
But there was a concerted effort to project the DMK govt in a bad light, he said. The onslaught by our enemies would increase in the coming days as elections are around the corner. There would be a surge in slanders and attempts would be made to plant falsehood through fake opinion polls. "We should be prepared to defeat those attempts and counter them with truth,'' he said.
By this time next year, the headlines would be about DMK's election victory, he said.
Stalin took sharp digs at
AIADMK
and its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), accusing him of fully surrendering the party to the
BJP
. "Now he is trying to surrender Tamil Nadu too to the BJP, which is why Amit Shah keeps visiting the state. But that won't happen," Stalin said. "No matter which Shah visits TN, they cannot rule us. For Delhi, TN will always be out of control," he said.
Stalin said EPS wanted the DMK alliance to split and hoped that it would happen if he 'enacts a split with BJP.' Since that didn't happen, he rejoined the BJP front, Stalin said. He however questioned the silence of EPS when Shah announced the BJP – AIADMK alliance. "The conduct of EPS when Shah announced the alliance was more like the way he behaved when Sasikala declared him as CM in 2017,'' Stalin said.
Training his guns on BJP, Stalin urged cadres to inform people that if BJP captures power in TN, there would be Hindi imposition, communal and religious clashes.
Regression would replace industrial growth, he said. He then took a veiled dig at TVK president Vijay, stating that 'there were some new entrants bent upon duping youth by claiming to be the alternatives.' "We should give a fitting response to them as well,'' he said.
Rallying the cadres for the assembly election, Stalin urged them to increase party membership. Bring in more young people. Our movement needs the energy and passion of youth, we need young blood to take our ideology forward, he said.
Stalin lavishly praised DMK allies stating that the front's victory was made possible by the allies. ``One key reason for our continued victories is our alliance. Our alliance remains strong because we respect our allies. I treat our alliance leaders with friendship and love. You must do the same,'' he told the cadres.
Stalin said beginning June he would meet party functionaries constituency-wise, at Anna Arivalayam. "At that time, we will have one-on-one conversations," he added.

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38 minutes ago
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