Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday rebutted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister D.K. Stalin's claim that the Centre was withholding funds to the southern state, noting that PM Narendra Modi-led government had provided it over Rs 5 lakh crore. Tamil Nadu was allocated Rs 5,08,337 crore between 2014 and 2024, significantly more than what was allocated during the UPA regime, he said. He also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Legislative Assembly elections. In his remarks after inaugurating the BJP office in Coimbatore and the e-inauguration of two other district offices in Tiruvannamalai and Ramanathapuram, the senior BJP leader urged party cadres to prepare for a BJP-led NDA government in the state.

He emphasised that the new government would eliminate nepotism and corruption while ushering in an era of development. Targeting the ruling DMK, Minister Shah alleged that its leaders were deeply involved in corruption. He claimed that while one DMK leader was embroiled in a cash-for-jobs scam, another was involved in illegal sand mining and money laundering. He further stated that some leaders were facing disproportionate assets cases. “All those involved in corruption should take membership in the DMK," he remarked sarcastically. The Union Home Minister also accused CM Stalin and his son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, of raising diversionary issues to shift public focus from real concerns.

He specifically referred to CM Stalin’s decision to call for an all-party meeting on March 5 to discuss the upcoming delimitation exercise. Amit Shah reassured that Prime Minister Modi had already clarified that no parliamentary seats would be reduced for southern states as a result of delimitation. He emphasised that the redrawing of constituencies based on population levels would not affect the proportion of Lok Sabha MPs from the southern states.

He accused the DMK government of unnecessarily fuelling concerns over the delimitation process to distract from pressing governance issues. The delimitation exercise, expected to take place next year, has become a major point of contention between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led Centre. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Stalin announced an all-party meeting on March 5 to deliberate on the issue.

/IANS