PM Modi Congratulates New Tamil Nadu CM, Attacks Congress Party

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated C Joseph Vijay after he took the oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu ^[1].

The exchange highlights a shifting political landscape in southern India, where the Prime Minister is leveraging the collapse of old alliances to weaken the Congress party's influence.

During his remarks, Modi said the Congress party was a "parasite" and a "backstabber" [1, 2]. He targeted the party for its decision to abandon the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a political partner it had relied upon for decades ^[1].

Modi said the Congress party survived the period before 2014 with help from the DMK, only to betray that partnership. He pointed to the history of the region to illustrate this point, noting that for 25 to 30 years ^[3], the Congress shared a close relationship with the DMK ^[2].

While the Prime Minister used the occasion to criticize his political opponents, he also sought to establish a productive relationship with the new state leadership. Modi said he desired continued cooperation between the central government and the new administration in Tamil Nadu [1, 2].

The Prime Minister's comments come as the Congress party faces increasing scrutiny over its shifting political alignments. By framing the Congress as an opportunistic entity, Modi aimed to contrast the stability of his own administration with the perceived instability of the opposition's regional partnerships ^[1].

This public condemnation follows a pattern of the Prime Minister targeting the Congress party's regional strategies during high-profile state events. The oath ceremony served as a platform to signal that the central government remains open to working with new state leadership, regardless of previous alliance structures [1, 2].