Back in October 2020, when the DMK was in opposition, party leaders were vocal about the AIADMK government’s handling of the northeast monsoon. Among them was Udhayanidhi Stalin, then an MLA and now Tamil Nadu’s Deputy Chief Minister.
During a spell of heavy rain that year, Udhayanidhi took to X to express frustration over the city’s recurring flood woes. He posted, “#TheVictim Every time, Chennai falls prey to heavy rain. Is there no solution for this?”
Curiously, he tagged actor Aishwarya Rajesh in the same post. (aishu_dil)
The post reflected the DMK’s wider criticism at the time: that the AIADMK government had failed to put in place a lasting drainage or flood-prevention mechanism for Chennai, forcing residents to suffer through the same scenes every year.
Five years later, as Udhayanidhi now oversees several key portfolios in the DMK-led government, the same question he once posed returns with irony. Despite repeated assurances, the city’s roads and stormwater infrastructure have deteriorated, and large stretches of Chennai continue to flood after even moderate rainfall.
This year’s monsoon has once again left several neighbourhoods waterlogged, drawing public criticism over poor road quality, clogged drains, and slow response times. Many online users have resurfaced Udhayanidhi’s old post, questioning what has changed since his party took power.
As the state government faces growing scrutiny over its preparedness, the now Deputy Chief Minister’s five-year-old question — “Is there no solution for this?” — now resonates in an entirely different light.
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