Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) performed a dramatic walkout from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly during the budget speech for the fiscal year 2025-26.
The walkout is now an open, unmistakable sign that there is a sudden and unrestful shift of aggression between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the opposition, especially the BJP and AIADMK, towards the poll bound state of Tamil Nadu in the year 2026.
The first walkout came on grounds of the insertion of a Tamil symbol (Ru) in the budget logo instead of the national currency symbol (Re) by the Tamil Nadu government. This unexpected act, contrary to Delhi and the National Education Policy, which has been alleged by the BJP, is perceived as one of supporting Hindi. The token had already fanned the raging flames between the DMK and its challenger, the BJP.
The other cause that culminated in this walkout is that everything that is being said, or was said, has had something to do with the alleged TASMAC scam. TASMAC, indeed the State-operated liquor-sale outfit, is in the eye of great controversy since the rupees one-cr. 2006 Ayyavazin scam. Much consolidation had been invested with thousands of cr by the ED involved in a racket entailing widespread financial irregularities. BJP state president K. Annamalai excoriated the TN government for this so-called "alms" budget full of nothing but hypocrisy, failing to look into its own allegations of corruption.
Consequently, amid stout protests over the charges of corruption, AIADMK, the past ally of BJP, walked out. Leading his 60+ party men, AIADMK leader E. Palaniswami, the former Chief Minister, left the floor because of the violations in TASMAC's conduct. Although AIADMK had stirred some apprehension over Hindi imposition, it mostly focused on the corruption-related wear and tear on the DMK government.
The set of walks sums up an increasing struggle between DMK and the opposition parties, critically as the state gets ready for the election in 2026. The BJP, after making fairly substantial ground in a state long dominated by Dravidian forces, has recently hit hard against the DMK on certain, locally important issues like economy and governance. Together with allegations of the TASMAC scam, these prospects give some leverage to the opposition in forming a united front in shaming the government for charges: corruption and misgovernance.
[ Source Credit: NDTV]
