AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami addressing the media in Madurai on Thursday
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has yet again expressed his opposition to the TVK government’s move to construct a new Secretariat-Assembly complex at Pattinapakkam in Chennai.
Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Thursday (September 17, 2026), the former Chief Minister pointed to the “huge borrowings” made by the TVK government since it came to power in May, 2026, and alleged: “In just the first four months, the new government has borrowed ₹40,000 crore. If this is the financial position of the State, then why is the TVK government planning to construct a new Secretariat building now?”
Mr. Palaniswami said that after setting right the State’s financial crisis, the government should choose a different site for the new Secretariat, which would not adversely affect people and create traffic congestion. “The government should reconsider the Pattinapakkam site, where the fishing community lives. There are schools located there, and the area generally witnesses a lot of traffic jams,” he said.
On power crisis
Mr. Palaniswami further said that while Energy Resources Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar has been “denying” the fact that there were frequent power cuts in the State under the TVK rule, an additional 2,000 MW of electricity was being procured from the open market to mitigate Tamil Nadu’s power shortage. “Hiding these facts will not help the government solve the power crisis; it should instead take constructive steps,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
‘Bypolls forced on people’
On the Madras High Court expressing concern over MLAs resigning from political parties and re-contesting the upcoming bypolls on behalf of other parties, Mr. Palaniswami said that the bye-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram were “forced upon the people of Tamil Nadu.”
“The TVK had brought the two AIADMK MLAs [who are now candidates in the bypolls] into its fold through horse-trading and forced them to resign against the will of the voters of those constituencies,” he said. Even the Left parties that are supporting the TVK government have flayed this, he added.
Debunking the claim of the TVK of having provided a corruption-free administration, Mr. Palaniswami said that several lakhs of rupees have been seized by the DVAC during its raids from various government offices in the past few months, proving that corruption has actually risen under the TVK regime.
Pointing to the abduction of an elderly trader in Tenkasi district, the AIADMK leader said that the law and order situation in the State has deteriorated. The government has also failed to contain the price hike of foodgrains, and the general public is badly hit, he added.
Published – September 17, 2026 04:22 pm IST
