Spreading misinformation appears to be a routine practice for the ruling DMK, with a recent instance involving Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu. While addressing the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, he claimed that no “northern invasion”—from Alexander the Great to Chhatrapati Shivaji—had ever succeeded in conquering Tamil Nadu, highlighting the state’s uniqueness. Though most of his statement was historically accurate, the mention of Chhatrapati Shivaji was factually incorrect which has sparked intellectual debate in social media.

During the debate on the 2025-26 Budget in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu stated, “I don’t need to tell you that Tamil Nadu has never bowed its head to any domination from the North at any point in its history. Alexander the Great came to India but Tamil Nadu was never on the path of his conquest. The Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, could not even touch borders of Tamil Nadu. The wheel of Ashoka’s rule did not turn in Tamil land. Although the Gupta era was called the golden age, the Samudra Gupta’s footstep did not set foot in this Tamil land until the end. Kanishka’s rule never crossed the south of the Vindhya’s. Akbar Badusha’s kingdom could not reach Tamil Nadu. Aurangzeb was not only the Badusha of Hindustan but he also declared himself as the emperor of the universe, even though he could not conquer Tamil Nadu. Even the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, who was called the mountain rat by Aurangzeb, could not rule Tamil Nadu either.”

“அலெக்ஸாண்டர் முதல் சத்ரபதி சிவாஜி வரை… யாராலும் அது முடியவில்லை; தமிழ் மண்ணுக்கு மட்டுமே உரித்தான வரலாறு இது!” – நிதியமைச்சர் தங்கம் தென்னரசு#TNAssembly | #ThangamThenarasu | #MKStalin pic.twitter.com/54KyagbdCk

— PuthiyathalaimuraiTV (@PTTVOnlineNews) March 21, 2025

The post “Even Chhatrapati Shivaji Could Not Rule Tamil Nadu”: DMK Minister Thangam Thennarasu Says, But History Says Otherwise appeared first on The Commune.

Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai exposed the Tamil Nadu government’s Fact Check Team for promoting a false narrative with a selectively edited video, specifically concentrating on his press briefing regarding one of the ten lies he exposed, namely the Innuyir Kappom Scheme in which the state government simply rebranded and took credit for a program similar to the Good Samaritan Scheme introduced by the central government..

During the press briefing, Annamalai said, “The Tamil Nadu government’s Innuyir Kaappom Scheme is India’s first ever scheme. This is also a lie, the centre introduced this scheme in 2021, with Good Samaritan status and an incentive of ₹5000 will be provided to those who admit accident victims in hospitals immediately. They are taking credit for the central government scheme.”

On 14 February 2024, the Fact Check Team of the Tamil Nadu government, led by DMK supporter and YouTuber Iyan Karthikeyan, responded to Annamalai’s claims, asserting that “Annamalai made accusations without having any understanding of the ‘Innuyir Kappom’ Project”.

Drawing a comparison between the central government’s Good Samaritan scheme (GSS) and the state government’s Innuyir Kappom Thittam (IKT), the Fact Check Team presented an illogical argument asserting their unrelated and distinct nature. The IKT, implemented by the Tamil Nadu state government on 18 December 2021, aimed to cover the total treatment cost for the initial 48 hours following an accident in any hospital in Tamil Nadu where the injured person is admitted. In contrast, the GSS, introduced by the union government on 3 October 2021, rewards individuals who promptly take road accident victims to the hospital with a sum of ₹5000.

‘இன்னுயிர் காப்போம்’ திட்டம் குறித்த புரிதலே இல்லாமல் அண்ணாமலை குற்றச்சாட்டு

Fact checked by FCU | @CMOTamilnadu @TNDIPRNEWS pic.twitter.com/MDsKkwriXv

— TN Fact Check (@tn_factcheck) February 14, 2024

In reaction to this, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai countered with news citations, delivering a fitting response and thanked Fact Check Team for accepting that the Good Samaritan Scheme was not an idea of DMK government through his official X platform. He wrote, “After we exposed the ten lies in the Governor’s address yesterday, here comes another lie from the Fact Check unit of the TN Govt. Thank you for accepting that the Good Samaritan scheme is not the DMK Govt’s idea. But it was announced in Dec 2021 as part of the “Innuyir Kappom Scheme”—link to the article below. https://dinamani.com/tamilnadu/2021/Dec/18/mk-stalin-inaugurates-innuyir-kappom-scheme-in-tn-3757229.html. Now, let me address other elements of your claim. Free hospitalisation for road accident victims is implemented under the PMJAY scheme & Motor Vehicle Accident fund of the Central Government, and it was sent to State Governments for consideration in July 2020 – Link below. https://hindustantimes.com/india-news/govt-plans-scheme-for-cashless-treatment-of-accident-victims/story-bTTxCYZVmAR4BrlrugCLhJ_amp.html Under PMJAY, the TN Govt has received ₹1694 Crores from the Central Govt. We strongly suggest that the TN Fact Check unit read beyond the Murasoli to understand the world’s reality!” 

After we exposed the ten lies in the Governor’s address yesterday, here comes another lie from the Fact Check unit of the TN Govt.

Thank you for accepting that the Good Samaritan scheme is not the DMK Govt’s idea. But it was announced in Dec 2021 as part of the “Innuyir Kappom… https://t.co/O6pVDrBgmN

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 14, 2024

This comes against the backdrop of the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi skipping his inaugural address in the legislative assembly on 12 February 2024 highlighting that the address provided to him by the State government and  intended for him to read, included numerous passages with which he vehemently disagreed, citing both factual and moral grounds.

Annamalai, through his official X handle, shared a video containing his press briefing, revealing the falsehoods present in the Governor’s address on 13 February 2024. He highlighted ten falsehoods in the speech, spanning across different schemes and policies. He also spoke of these lies/falsehoods at a press briefing.

Annamalai stated, “First lie that said was “Today the Dravidian model government of Tamil Nadu was the destination for global investors”. Everyone knows that companies are vacating TN. The investments received in the global investors meet are very minimal compared to other states. Tamil Nadu has received only ₹6.6 lakh crore, UP received ₹33 lakh crore, Gujarat received ₹26 lakhs crore and Karnataka received ₹10 lakh crore. Hence Tamil Nadu is not the destination of investors on any basis. There is a SIPCOT in Ulundurpet. Two years ago, the Tamil Nadu government said a footwear company is investing ₹2,000 crore. Not even ₹2 was invested there. We have come across 200 constituencies throughout Tamil Nadu, we have seen the status of SIPCOT and the industries sectors in TN. The power tariff has increased. The TN government has not even refunded the state GST. This alone amounts to over ₹1000 crore pertaining to various industries – this is a blatant lie. How will the Hon. Governor read out this lie?”

“The second lie is praising the ruling DMK government for good handling of the Chennai and south Tamil Nadu floods. When Chennai was gasping for life during the Michuang cyclone and when heavy rains hit south Tamil Nadu, the chief minister was in Delhi for the I.N.D.I alliance meeting. If in the assembly they want to praise themselves let them do so in their party functions. Nothing wrong in it but writing out a blatant lie and expecting the Governor to read it out and praise the CM and the government how will he do that? The governor himself has criticized them for not handling the flood situation in Chennai properly. How will he praise that?” he asked.

“The third lie – Tamil Nadu must be compensated with ₹20,000 crore to make up for the loss due to GST implementation. GST came into effect from 2017. The centre said states will be compensated for the next 5 years for a projected growth of 14%. Accordingly Tamil Nadu has received ₹27,959 crore as GST compensation from 2017-18 for 5 years. On top of it, TN received ₹14,336 crore to manage the deficit during the pandemic. Today the Tamil Nadu government must explain what kind of financial loss they are talking about. Everyone knows about the economy today. Before the GST was implemented, Tamil Nadu’s own tax revenue growth was 3% in 2013-14. It was 7% in 2014-15, 2% in 2015-16 and 7% in 2016-17. After the GST implementation, Tamil Nadu’s own tax revenue growth was 14% in 2018-19, it was 10% in 2019-20 and 2020-21 was pandemic period, in 2021-22 it was 16% and 24% in 2022-23. It is clear that the tax revenue of TN has increased after the implementation of GST. Then on what basis are they claiming that there has been a loss of ₹20,000 crore? Is there any financial paper or white paper on this? How could they expect the Hon Governor to read out something written out of thin air?” he questioned.

“The 4th lie – The state government prioritises maintaining law and order and religious harmony. Won’t people laugh if they say they are maintaining law and order? What is right in their law and order? The law and order situation in TN is in dire straits. The Governor too exception to it last time as well. No one in Tamil Nadu will accept that law and order is maintained. That is the reason governor did not read it out,” he said.

“The 5th lie – The TN government has delivered the election promise by offering the Magalir Urimai Thogai. Is providing the cash benefit to only 40% of women in Tamil Nadu an accomplishment?” he questioned.

“The sixth lie – 2.73 lakh women have benefited from the Puthumai Penn Scheme. They have aborted the Gold for Mangalsutra scheme implemented by the previous government and rechristened old schemes with new names saying people benefitted fron them. The free laptop scheme for students has also been stopped,” he added.

“The seventh lie – The Chief Minister’s morning breakfast scheme is India’s first ever such scheme. The central government introduced this scheme in 2020 with National Education Policy. The centre is also providing funds to states for the morning breakfast scheme. How could the Dravidian model government claim that it is the first state to implement this scheme. That too is a lie,” he added.

“The eighth lie – Tamil Nadu Action Plan 2024 for the Welfare of Adi Dravidar and Scheduled Tribes. The Schedule Caste Special Plan fund of ₹10,000 crore given to Tamil Nadu by the centre has been sent back without spending in 2022. Today how will governor read when they write praising themselves?” he questioned.

“The ninth lie – We will press the central government to conduct the caste census. Correct, the previous government constituted the Kulasekaran committee. But when chief minister MK Stalin came to power, he terminated the committee without providing an extension. What is stopping you from constituting a committee for caste census? Why did you terminate the Kulasekaran committee? They need to answer this rather than blaming the centre,” he stated.

“The tenth lie – The Tamil Nadu governments Innuyir Kaappom Scheme is India’s first ever scheme. This is also a lie. The centre introduced this scheme in 2021. If someone is in an accident, an incentive of ₹5000 will be provided to those who admit accident victims in hospital immediately. The DMK government is claiming credit for this central government scheme. To summarise, the speech given by the government to the governor is chief ministers self-bragging. The governor denied reading out something which has lots of lies and wrong data. Whether the governor’s decision to read or not is a separate debate but the speech written had a lot of lies,” he finally stated.

The Hon Governor’s address prepared by the DMK Government was bundled with lies & addressed the media today, exposing a few of the many lies in that prepared address. pic.twitter.com/a61POhwclO

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 13, 2024

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The post TN BJP President Annamalai Exposes DMK Govt’s False Claims In Governor’s Address, Debunks Ten Lies In Speech appeared first on The Commune.