Karti's comment on coalition govt in 2026 was his own opinion, says TNCC chief

CHENNAI: Responding to party MP Karti P Chidambaram's comment about forming a coalition government in the state in 2026, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai on Sunday said that the decision would be taken by the national leadership.

Talking to reporters after paying floral tributes to the late actor Sivaji Ganesan's portrait on the occasion of his 23rd death anniversary at Sathyamoorthy Bhavan (TNCC headquarters) in Chennai, Selvaperunthagai said, "Our Sivaganga MP Karti P Chidambaram's comment that the Congress party needs more MLAs to get representation in the State Cabinet and in the local bodies in the future was his own opinion. Our all-India Congress leadership will decide on forming a coalition government in the state in 2026."

But the ruling DMK and the Congress parties are determined to oppose the BJP, he added.

The Congress's Sriperumbudur MLA also blamed former CM and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) for the recent electricity tariff hike "During the AIADMK regime, EPS had signed a pact under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. This was the reason behind the series of electricity tariff hikes in the state," he said. The centrally sponsored scheme by the Government of India aims to improve the financial and operational status of power distribution companies (DISCOMs).

The TNCC chief then urged the ruling DMK government to withdraw the electricity tariff hike considering the burden on the people.

He also informed that efforts were under way to erect a statue of Sivaji Ganesan in a new place soon.

The state government had refused to permit the statue to be unveiled at the Trichy-Palakarai roundtana where it was installed 13 years ago. Since then it has been veiled.