"Door firmly closed to BJP": Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram confident of "comfortable majority" in Tamil Nadu polls

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 20 : Senior Congress Leader P Chidambaram has exuded confidence that the DMK-led alliance will secure a huge mandate in the forthcoming assembly elections, alleging that Tamil Nadu will not accept the BJP.

Speaking exclusively with ANI, Chidambaram claimed that AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have "no credibility" and stated that Tamil Nadu will never accept a BJP government.

"The door is firmly closed to the BJP. The people of Tamil Nadu will never accept the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have no credibility among the Tamil people, and therefore Palaniswami also has no credibility," he added.

He further reflected on the DMK-led alliance's past victories and assured that the alliance will once again get a "comfortable majority."

"In Tamil Nadu there is a DMK-led alliance which has been tested and tried for the last four elections including the present one. We won in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, secured a massive victory in 2021 assembly elections, we also won all the 39 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and we are confident that in this state Assembly election the DMK-led alliance including the Congress will win comfortably. I don't predict, but we aim to win as many seats, out of 234 and we will get a comfortable majority," he stated.

Ridiculing EPS's statement against DMK "failing to act effectively in Parliament despite having MPs" over the defeat of the Women's Reservation Bill, Chidambaram said that the bill had already been passed in 2023, reaffirming the party's support for women's reservation.

"I can say that, out of ignorance, his statement is wrong. It's an absolute lie. The women's reservation has already been passed in the Constitution, 106th Amendment passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in 2023 September. It's part of the Constitution. The constitution has been translated into all regional languages. He should read at least the 106th Constitution Amendment Bill, which introduced Article 344A...He's absolutely wrong. But if he insists on saying that we did not support the women's reservation, it's an absolute lie," he said.

Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement that the RSS and BJP are attempting to "infiltrate" Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram seconded and said that the public of Tamil Nadu has, thus, kept BJP out of the state.

"We are saying that for the last ten years and the people of Tamil Nadu listen to us and they kept the BJP firmly out of Tamil Nadu. This time also the BJP led Alliance will be kept out of Tamil Nadu," he affirmed.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the BJP-AIADMK alliance, claiming that the BJP aims to remove Chief Minister MK Stalin and replace him with a "puppet" in the AIADMK in the state.

Addressing a massive rally in Thuraiyur, Gandhi alleged that the RSS and BJP are attempting to "infiltrate" Tamil Nadu because they "hate" its distinct tradition, culture, and language.

"It is the method by which BJP and RSS want to infiltrate Tamil Nadu because they hate your tradition and culture and your language. Tamil is not an ordinary language. Tamil is the soul of the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.

The remarks come ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, which are scheduled to be held in a single phase on April 23, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4.

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