Stalin slams Palaniswami for not raising voice against Centre’s ‘dilution of MGNREGS’

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) accused AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami of spreading falsehoods after being unable to raise his voice against the Centre for diluting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

In a post on X, Mr. Stalin said even when 100 days of work a year under MGNREGS was guaranteed by law, it was not properly implemented by the BJP government at the Centre, and there were delays in wage payments. “Now, under a new scheme burdened with several conditions, is it really going to provide 125 days of work?” Mr. Stalin wondered.

He alleged that the Union government has washed its hands of responsibility and no longer guarantees even a single day of work.

“You once claimed to have exerted pressure on your masters not to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme. But what has happened? The Centre does not seem to accord you even the slightest importance,” he said, directing his words at Mr. Palaniswami.

“Has the authoritarian move of shifting 40% of the financial burden onto State governments been withdrawn? It has not. No one expected you to have the courage to question Delhi. But at least you could have avoided defending it. By defending the BJP government as it digs a grave for MGNREGS, which eradicated poverty and upheld the dignity of the people, you are effectively writing the conclusion of your political life,” Mr. Stalin told the Opposition leader.