Stalin uses New Year message to attack Centre, calls for ‘Dravidian Pongal’ celebrations

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin used his New Year message to mount a fresh attack on the Centre over the National Education Policy (NEP) and other issues, while urging cadres of the ruling DMK to organise ‘Dravidian Pongal’ celebrations as part of preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections.

Extending New Year and Pongal greetings to party workers, Stalin said the DMK continued to wage a determined fight against what he described as attempts by the BJP-led central government to undermine the interests of Tamil Nadu. In a letter addressed to party members on Wednesday, he said the past five years had been marked by a sustained struggle to protect the state’s rights.

“The DMK stands as a guardian of Indian democracy, with our allies firmly by our side. With a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, we are in the battlefield for rights,” Stalin said, underlining his party’s confrontational stance towards the Centre.

The chief minister criticised the Union government for what he termed efforts to impose Hindi through the NEP and for renaming the rural employment guarantee scheme as VB G RAM G. He said the DMK’s priority remained safeguarding public welfare and defeating what he called the “strategies” of political opponents.

Calling for greater mobilisation at the grassroots, Stalin appealed to party workers to begin celebrating Pongal as a festival of social justice from New Year’s Day. Recalling his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s call to observe ‘Samathuva Pongal’ or Equality Pongal, Stalin urged cadres to take the idea forward by celebrating ‘Dravidian Pongal’.

He said the celebrations should include competitions and community events in every village, involving people from all sections of society, to highlight the achievements of the DMK government and the principles of the Dravidian model of governance.

Linking the campaign directly to the electoral calendar, Stalin said 2026 would mark the return of a renewed DMK government. “The New Year 2026 is approaching — the year when the Dravidian model 2.0 government will be formed,” he said, wishing party members a happy New Year.

In a subsequent post on social media platform X, the chief minister called on supporters to begin the year by raising slogans promoting equality and Tamil Nadu’s progress, describing the New Year as the starting point for the establishment of the ‘Dravidian model 2.0’ regime.

With PTI inputs