In the first election rally after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) took shape in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a concerted effort to project unity within the bloc.
However, political critics feel that in the process, he failed to energise saffron supporters with a fresh campaign message, relying instead on familiar themes such as alleged dynastic rule, corruption, and drug abuse in the state under the rule of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
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Sources said that although several cadres were given rehearsals to clap and chant slogans, including Modi’s name, as he spoke, many failed to respond at crunch moments during his speech.
Eventually, the organisers asked them to raise their mobile phones and switch on their flashlights to signal support for the high-profile speaker and the alliance.
NDA supporters were ecstatic only twice
The crowd appeared visibly enthused only on two occasions. The first was when Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran admitted on stage that bitterness had existed in the relationship between the AMMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), but said he had rejoined the NDA in the interest of the welfare of the Tamil people and to unseat the DMK from power.
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The second moment came when the AIADMK general secretary welcomed alliance leaders and mentioned Dhinakaran by name. Beyond these instances, the rally failed to ignite enthusiasm among cadres and supporters.
‘Old wine in new bottle’
Speaking to The Federalpolitical analyst R Rangaraj said Modi refrained from touching upon his usual themes, such as Hindutva and anti-Muslim rhetoric, during the rally in Maduranthakam, the southernmost suburb of Chennai.
He described the speech as “old wine in a new bottle”.
“Modi did not appear energetic at the Madurantakam rally. He was sober and restrained, limiting himself to topics such as corruption in the DMK regime and the promotion of Tamil culture. He did not speak about Sanatana Dharma or alleged anti-Hindu sentiments as he is used to speak in election rallies in other states. There was no new election message in the Madurantakam rally,” Rangaraj added.
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Pointing out that voters may not accept repeated allegations of corruption and dynastic rule, the critic noted that even as Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss shared the stage, criticism by his father, senior leader S Ramadoss, over the use of the PMK’s ‘mango’ symbol in rally banners, went viral.
‘Modi failed to inspire supporters’
“Merely stating that Tamil Nadu received higher funds than during the former United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime will not attract large sections of voters. The DMK swept the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with its argument that the Union government returns only 29 paise for every rupee Tamil Nadu contributes as tax,” Rangaraj said, adding more substance to his viewpoint that Modi’s first rally for the 2026 polls failed to enthuse the NDA supporters.
Responding to the charges levelled by Modi against the DMK government, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said Tamil Nadu voters would respond in the same manner as they did in the 2021 Assembly elections and the 2024 general elections.
‘People have rejected Modi’
“We have seen how many times Modi visited Tamil Nadu during the last two elections. But the people rejected his statements through their votes. People are ready for Dravidian Model 2.0 because every section of society has benefited from welfare schemes,” he told The Federal.
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When asked about allegations of dynastic rule within the DMK, Annadurai said, “Who is Piyush Goyal? His father, Ved Prakash Goyal, was a minister in the (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee government, and now Piyush is a Union minister. Nitin Nabin, son of the late BJP leader Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha, is the BJP’s national president now. Let them first question their own dynasty politics. Udhayanidhi Stalin was elected by the people and is part of the Cabinet in his own right. People knew this and elected him. This is an old and unnecessary argument.”
Modi promotes Tamil but…
In his speech, Modi said he had seen children in the streets of Kashi speaking Tamil. He also claimed that the NDA government was promoting Tamil through the Subramania Bharathi Chair established in 2021 at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Uttar Pradesh. However, writer A Jeevakumar told The Federal that the chair had not been functioning at full capacity for the past four years.
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When The Federal checked with a source at BHU, he confirmed that the chair still does not have a full-time professor.
“The chair was created in 2021. As per the rules, there should be a professor, a research scholar and an assistant. However, the professor’s post was never filled. Only recently, an advertisement was issued to hire a professor. There was a tug-of-war between the UGC (University Grants Commission) and the university over the salary of the professor, which delayed the appointment,” the source said.
The source added that the chair had managed to organise only a few lectures and seminars on Bharathi’s birth and death anniversaries and could not function fully due to staff shortage.
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