Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu), Feb 7 (PTI) DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led regime at the Centre only gave "zero" to Tamil Nadu in the Union Budget presented recently and urged the people to give back "zero" to the NDA in the state in the upcoming Assembly election in April.

Addressing the southern regional meeting of the DMK youth wing office-bearers here, Stalin, listing out the flagship schemes of his government including the Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to women and fare-free travel in buses for women, said Tamil Nadu is the superstar state in the country that topped the charts in all rankings. However, Tamil Nadu, though "No 1," is not being provided anything by the Centre in the Union Budget.

He said: "We expected that they will do some election stunt eyeing the Assembly polls. They did not even do that." Assembly election is due in Tamil Nadu in April, 2026.

Listing out Tamil Nadu's demands including education funds, new railway projects, 50 per cent tax share to the state, exemption from NEET, completion of Madurai AIIMS Project, the chief minister said: "We are seeking these from the Centre; but what they have given us is zero." "Hence, we must give them back the same thing in the election. Not only the BJP, the entire NDA must get only zero, exactly similar to what they got in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls." Targeting Edappadi K Palaniswami, the leader of opposition and AIADMK chief, Stalin said rather than raising his voice against the Centre for giving "zero" to Tamil Nadu, the LoP has become the BJP's "branch secretary".

"Palaniswami has now fully transformed into NDA Palaniswami and he is lamenting that he heads the alliance in Tamil Nadu," Stalin said.

Also, the CM hit out at the AIADMK for its stand supporting the new rural jobs law and for claiming to increase the number of workdays to 150 if voted to power and used a colloquial phrase to mean that "Now, Palaniswami is more loyal than the king." Palaniswami had already promised that 125 working days will be further increased to 150 days and the wages would also be enhanced if his party wins polls.

The DMK President also alleged that the NDA, led by the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu was not meant for people's welfare. It is merely a game of "musical chair," with the return of several leaders who had quit the alliance. "The 2026 Assembly election is Tamil Nadu versus NDA. We must make Tamil Nadu win the polls." In Tamil Nadu, for the BJP, defeat is nothing new and it is a routine for them, the CM said, adding the DMK-led alliance will post a great win while the AIADMK-BJP will face a rout.

While welcoming the cadres to the conference in a video message, Stalin recalled that he had spoken about the importance of following the party's ideology and the need for the DMK.

"What are our basic principles? These are social justice, self-respect, state autonomy, love for the language (mother tongue) and racial sentiment (Tamil ethnic belonging/solidarity)," the DMK chief asserted.

The DMK had often targeted the fans of actor-turned politician Vijay for following him without having any idea about ideology or principles.

Explaining on the commitment to the key party principle of protecting the language, he said: "Whenever our mother tongue Tamil was threatened during various periods, we have fought fiercely and prevented it. However, under the name of the 3-language policy, the danger of imposing the Hindi language still hangs over our heads like a suspended sword even today! They (BJP-led Centre) believe that if the language is destroyed, they can destroy our identity! We need you to defeat it." On social justice, he wondered if the grandparents of the current generation had the opportunity to get educated.

"We were kept out of bounds of education and we did not get job opportunities and this injustice was defeated through reservation and social justice was established. However, now, with exams like NEET they are trying to create old methods of injustice and ours is the only party that has the capability to stop it and you are needed in this mission." On state autonomy, the CM said India is a union of states and the DMK had all along batted for respect to federalism. Stalin recalled that decades ago chief ministers could not even hoist the national flag on Independence Day.

"There were several other issues. The situation was changed to an extent through struggle to make states get power. It was the DMK that demonstrated for the first time that state-based parties could capture power at the Centre. Do not forget this. Not only for Tamil Nadu, we secured rights for all the states in India. Now powers are being centralised. They are desperate to transform states into municipalities and the BJP is working to decimate state parties. However, Tamil Nadu is the only state they cannot touch. To protect his, you are needed," Stalin said.

Similarly, the CM explained in detail on other principles like self-respect and urged youth wing functionaries to develop language skills in addition to love for language and peruse personality development goals. PTI VGN VGN SA