Tamil Nadu election: We are prepared to face ED, I-T, and CBI, says T.N. CM Stalin

If the BJP brings in its forces in the form of the ED [Enforcement Directorate], I-T [Income Tax Department], and CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], among other investigating agencies, “we are very well prepared to face them,” said DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Monday (February 23, 2026). He further charged that the BJP was being “cheap” in using investigating agencies for carrying out the party’s “political hunting.”

Speaking at the News 18’s Town Hall event, Mr. Stalin said: “The NDA [National Democratic Alliance] is an alliance that is entirely formed by threatening the corrupt. Many who were Ministers during the erstwhile AIADMK regime were raided. DVAC [Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption] cases are still pending against about 10 of them. But only for the sake of the alliance, they [the BJP government] are protecting them [the former Ministers].”

Mr. Stalin further alleged: “In fact, they [the BJP government] have been preventing the registration of FIRs against some former Ministers through the Governor for a long time now. While so, they are now trying to threaten us with the ED, I-T, and CBI. Even if the BJP brought its forces in the form of ED, I-T, and CBI, we are very well prepared to face them.”

Questioning how many of the 8,000-odd cases registered by the ED have been completely investigated and what the conviction rate was, Mr. Stalin said: “Those against whom the corruption charges are framed are joining electoral alliances with whom? The BJP is undertaking political hunting by cheaply using the investigating agencies. And they have named the alliance NDA.”

Later, during an interview, when asked whether there was a multi-cornered contest for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls and if this was favourable to him, Mr. Stalin said: “Certainly there may be a multi-cornered contest. But they are not strong enough.”

Replying to a query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Tamil Nadu recently and the BJP’s efforts in ensuring its alliance’s victory, Mr. Stalin said: “As I keep repeating, the Prime Minister should visit often. [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah should keep visiting, too. This Governor [R.N. Ravi] should not be replaced. This is our major campaign.”

‘Will act according to stature’

Asked about voices appealing to him to head the INDIA bloc, Mr. Stalin recalled the observations made by late leader and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi that he was well aware of his stature. “Thalaivar has said he was aware of his stature. I, too, will act according to my stature.”

Referring to an article he had penned in The Hindu that India’s federalism was in need of a structural reset, Mr. Stalin said an understanding at the national level in this regard was necessary.