Chennai, (PTI):-  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has said that his party-led alliance will win over 200 seats in the April 23 Assembly polls, and launched a blistering attack on his rival Edappadi K Palaniswami and the BJP on a number of issues, particularly accusing the saffron party of trying to use the women’s quota as a “weapon” against the opposition.

In an interview with PTI, the 73 year-old DMK president also responded to Palaniswami’s “power centre” jibe thrown at his family, and declared that his government’s initiatives such as a women’s rights scheme (Rs 1000 per month), which is being replicated in other states in the country, will go down in history as a very important programme.

Regarding the Rs 8,000 coupon scheme for purchasing home appliances, he called it the “election superstar”.

Under the scheme, women could buy their chosen products from the shops they wished. He added that it would help improve living standards and strengthen the local economy. When the Women’s Rights Scheme, providing monthly assistance of Rs 1,000, was implemented, several people raised questions. However, several states implemented this scheme and other states facing elections have also assured that this initiative will be implemented. “Now, we will successfully implement the Illatharasi Scheme also. It provides Rs 8,000 coupon to beneficiaries. Like the Women’s Rights Scheme, this initiative will also be emulated by states across the country.”

Stalin also dismissed the Enforcement Directorate’s allegations on TASMAC, sandmining scams as “Centre produced, ED-enacted dramas,” and charged that the central agency has been turned “servile.”

“The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population,” he said.

“Hence, the women’s reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason,” the DMK president added.

Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, he said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Palaniswami on delimitation, saying he was “mute” on the matter.

“We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished.”

The party came up with “Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum” (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK’s stand, he said.

In his interview amid the ongoing campaign for the upcoming elections, Stalin exuded confidence that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance will win over 200. SPA constituents include Congress, Left parties and the VCK. Elections to 234 Assembly seats will be held in the state on April 23.

“People have placed immense love and trust in my party, and with their support, the SPA will win more than 200 seats and form the Dravidian Model 2.0 government,” he said.

Stalin dismissed Palaniswami’s allegation of “CM’s family acting as power centre” as imaginary and intended to divert attention.

He said the jibe was only an allegation aimed at diverting attention from the Dravidian model regime’s good governance and achievements over five years. “There is no need to reply to Palaniswami’s imaginary tales.”

On allegations levelled by the AIADMK chief over crimes against women in the state, Stalin said the Pollachi sexual assault case stood as a testimony for the crimes against women during Palaniswami-led “AIADMK government’s misrule,” wherein even a woman IPS officer was subjected to sexual harassment.

The AIADMK chief does not have any locus standi to comment either on law and order or women’s safety as his party has an electoral alliance with those who changed Manipur into a “land of violence,” the chief minister alleged.

“Similar to the way they ruined Tamil Nadu by transforming it into a warehouse for gutkha, they also left behind a situation wherein there was no action on crimes against women. However, after the DMK took over, by way of tough action, we have wiped out intoxicants, including gutkha,” he said.

On crimes against women, Stalin said a huge awareness has been created to encourage affected women to lodge complaints by visiting police stations.

“We have set up Thozhi (friend) hostels for the sake of the safety of working women. It is the DMK regime which has secured punishments in a very short time in cases involving crimes against women. Not only that, we have made punishments for crimes against women more stringent by way of effecting appropriate amendments to relevant laws,” he said.

Tamil Nadu has the most working women, as their safety has been ensured by the government. “Ïn the whole of India, Tamil Nadu is the No.1 state in terms of safety for women.”

Stalin also attacked the AIADMK leadership, saying it lacks ideology or principle and that the Delhi BJP functions as its headquarters.

Defending his usage of the strong term “slave” against AIADMK leaders, he said, “how to describe those who mortgaged all the rights of Tamil Nadu? How else to describe those who dance to the tunes of Delhi.”

Asked if the seat-sharing talks with the Congress ahead of the 2026 assembly polls were the “toughest in decades”, he said, “such scenarios are usual during parleys to allocate seats. The talks were concluded cordially, and the leaders and cadres are in the field for the victory of alliance candidates”.

He also said that the alliance, since 2019, has been going strong, and more parties have joined to further strengthen the SPA. “Not only in Tamil Nadu, but our alliance will register a spectacular win in Puducherry also,” he said. Election to 30 seats in the neighbouring union territory was held on April 9.

On admitting three-time AIADMK Chief Minister O Panneerselvam into the party, he said, “people understand the AIADMK’s status well. It lacks ideology or principles, and the Delhi BJP is that party’s headquarters.”

“That is why those who grew up with a commitment to the Dravidian movement’s ideology join the DMK, the fountainhead of the Dravidian movement. Brother O Panneerselvam has also chosen that path and joined the DMK.”

When asked about a larger role at the national level in the INDIA alliance, Stalin recalled the famous quote of his father and late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi in similar circumstances and asserted that he was aware of his limits.

Further, he strongly condemned the BJP for reducing the ED into an “errand department” and dubbed the alleged Rs 1,000 crore TASMAC scam and the illegal sandmining to the tune of nearly Rs 5,000 crore as “BJP-scripted and ED enacted dramas”.

“We have seen High Courts and even the Supreme Court censure the ED on several occasions. The things you pointed out were BJP at the Centre scripted and ED enacted dramas,” he said.

On the various welfare initiatives of his government, he said the women’s monthly entitlement scheme and the Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme were close to his heart.

While the women empowerment scheme, which is being replicated in other states in the country will go down in history as a very important programme, the breakfast scheme, aimed at improving the children’s health, has immeasurable benefits.

“All the schemes that we have implemented in the Dravidian model regime are very important initiatives. However, I would like to say that though we have implemented various schemes, two schemes are close to my heart. They are the women’s monthly entitlement scheme and CM’s breakfast scheme,” he said when asked if he could name schemes, among the slew of welfare programmes being implemented by his government, that gave him immense satisfaction.

“The women’s entitlement scheme provides Rs 1,000 per month to the heads of families. When we first announced this scheme as a promise (in 2021 polls), the opposition parties criticised it saying that it could not be implemented at all, that it was announced for elections. But today, the women’s rights scheme is the best implemented scheme in India,” he said.

Those who criticised it then, were the ones who are implementing this scheme today in the states ruled by their parties. “In our next regime, we are going to increase this amount to Rs 2,000. This scheme will go down in history as a very important scheme,” he added.

“Similarly, another program close to my heart is the breakfast programme for school children. The cost of this programme is less than the others, but its benefits are immeasurable.”

He further said “we immediately introduced the breakfast programme in schools so that not a single child should go to school hungry. Later, we expanded it to government-aided schools. Now, in our next government, we are going to expand it up to class 8.”

“Now, we have created a situation where not a single child comes to school hungry. The children’s stomachs are full and they are studying well. I am truly satisfied with the implementation of this programme.”