Coimbatore: DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin claimed that the Lok Sabha results were Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "defeat" and he became the PM because of the support of TDP's Chandrababu Naidu and JDU's Nitish Kumar.
While addressing a public meeting in Coimbatore on Saturday, the Tamil Nadu CM also targeted the BJP over its slogan of 'Abki Baar, 400 Paar', saying, "Despite a lot of efforts, the BJP got only 240 seats."
"This is not Modi's victory, but Modi's defeat. Modi is the Prime Minister because of Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar. If they had not supported it, where would Modi have gotten the majority from? BJP can't do anything as per their wish," Stalin said.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a majority for the third time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 293 seats. The BJP won 240 seats on its own, in the 543-member lower house, where the majority mark stands at 272. Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Nitish Kumar's JDU, had won 16 and 12 seats respectively, in their respective states and extended their support to the NDA.
Stalin also asserted that the victory of the DMK in coalition with Congress was historic in the state.
"This is not an ordinary victory. This is a historic victory. This is the victory of all the workers and people who trusted our government...," Stalin said.
Notably, in the Lok Sabha elections, the DMK and Congress fought together and the coalition secured 31 out of 39 seats. The DMK had won 22 seats, while Congress secured nine seats. On the other hand, CPI and CPI (M) secured two seats each.
Stepping up his attacks on the BJP, Stalin said, "In 2004, Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi, former Tamil Nadu CM) got us a 40/40 victory (39 seats of Tamil Nadu and one seat of Puducherry). That time, AIADMK was ruling the government... In 2004, the exit poll predicted (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee would form the government but Congress formed the government. A similar thing has happened. Many said BJP would cross 400 but it has broken and we made BJP not cross majority single-handedly."
