T.N. Governor’s address meant for social media reels of TVK, alleges Udhayanidhi Stalin

Published 18 June 2026 · local

Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Thursday (June 18, 2026) that while the Governor’s Address is traditionally regarded as a blueprint of the

Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Thursday (June 18, 2026) that while the Governor’s Address is traditionally regarded as a blueprint of the government’s policies, the address delivered by Governor Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar had merely become material and content for the ruling party to produce social media reels. “It is an address intended for the Chief Minister (C. Joseph Vijay) to blow his own trumpet and engage in self-promotion,” said Mr. Udhayanidhi, who, along with other DMK MLAs, wore badges bearing the slogan, “Open your mouth, CM.” Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, Mr. Udhayanidhi said that during the DMK regime, the Governor often made changes to the address prepared by the government and did not read it in full. “This time, however, the Governor read the speech prepared by the government without changing even a single letter. There is an opinion that the government has established a cordial relationship with the BJP,” he said.

He pointed out several issues highlighted in the Governor’s Address, including the establishment of Olympic training centres, opposition to the Education Policy (NEP), adherence to the two-language policy, the 69% reservation policy, the demand to permit Tamil as a language of pleading in the High Court, and the establishment of a Bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai. These have long been demands of the DMK. “While they have merely affixed their own sticker to the achievements and demands of the DMK, they have attempted to shift the blame for the government’s failure onto the previous DMK government. The Governor’s Address is motivated by hostility towards the DMK administration. We strongly condemn these references,” he said. Recalling the Chief Minister’s speech at the NITI Aayog meeting last week, Mr. Udhayanidhi said the achievements highlighted there largely belonged to the previous DMK government rather than the one-month-old TVK administration.

“The Governor’s Address is full of contradictions. The government has completed only 38 days in office and has little to showcase as its own achievement. Whatever it claims today are merely extensions of schemes introduced by the DMK government. This is a copy-paste government that survives by putting its own sticker on existing programmes,” he alleged. Udhayanidhi said the white paper released by the Finance Minister last week was merely an attempt to create an escape route from implementing the promises made by the Chief Minister during the election campaign. “ Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu has raised several pertinent questions about the white paper, but the government has not been able to answer any of them,” he said. Referring to recent crime statistics, Mr. Udhayanidhi alleged the State had witnessed 175 cases of sexual offences, 65 murders and four honour killings since the new government assumed office.