Things got a bit heated in Tamil Nadu’s political circles after Udhayanidhi Stalin put it out there: he says Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay was rebranding the DMK’s Dravidian model as his own during the NITI Aayog Governing Council on June 11. For the Opposition, this isn’t about how it looks; it’s a fight over who really made it happen.
What set off the row
Udhayanidhi’s take is that the CM went to the Delhi table, with PM Narendra Modi in the chair, to put on display some numbers that, in his view, are from the old regime. He put it to them: how can you be in office for a month and put your name to what took five years to put in place?
He made it public on X, wondering if it was the TVK or the DMK that put Tamil Nadu in second place as an economy and put women in the spotlight. He wants the Chief Minister to come clean on it.
The figures in question
Vijay, as Udhayanidhi sees it, made a point of the fact that we are India’s second largest economy and the strides in women’s education, safety and health, not to mention the rise of Self-Help Groups. The Opposition leader has no time for that, saying those were put in the bag under the Dravidian way of doing things.
You have two stats in particular. That 42 per cent of the workforce is now women. And that of all working women in the country, 42 per cent are from here. Udhayanidhi will have it that both of those are from before the current lot even started their first month.
So far, these are the main points he has put to the Chief Minister:
– Handing over credit for what the DMK did as if it were new
– Not being able to make up his mind on NEET from the campaign to the council
– Not making a sound on Mekedatu in Delhi
A case of flip-flopping on NEET
Then there is the matter of medical admissions. Udhayanidhi pointed to a time when Vijay was on the trail and asked if NEET was the only thing in the world. Hard to square that with the support he showed for Class 12-based admissions at NITI Aayog.
It’s a change of tune that Udhayanidhi feels weakens the TVK story. He’s asking the CM to explain himself.
Left out of the water talks
The DMK youth wing head also has a bone to pick with Vijay for not making an issue of the Mekedatu dam in Delhi or with our friends in the Karnataka Congress. With the Congress as a new ally, he should have made some noise, one way or another.
To the Opposition, that kind of quiet is a let-down. Udhayanidhi lumps it in with the rest to wonder what the government is really focused on in these early days.
Why you should care in Tamil Nadu
It comes down to who is writing the book on progress in the state. Udhayanidhi won’t have it that the Dravidian model’s results are being sold as a new kind of success by what he calls a Sofa Model. In his words, they’ve just put a label on top of the DMK’s efforts.
You see it with any government wanting to be in control of the narrative. But as for blurring the lines on where the data comes from, Udhayanidhi is having none of it. He called the NITI Aayog show a phony win.
Where do we go from here
He has put it to the CM: tell us if these are one-month or five-year accomplishments. The Opposition is not going to let up on the questions of attribution and whether the big issues are being put on the national stage.
As we get into the nitty-gritty of policy, expect the line to be drawn. Udhayanidhi’s point is plain: own up to where the numbers come from and don’t put your sticker on something you didn’t do. As for the rest, he’s sure the truth will come out in the end.
