DMK's Udhayanidhi signals assembly session will be "battlefield" — Vande Mataram, state debt, law-and-order on agenda

DMK legislative party leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Saturday indicated that the upcoming Assembly session would be highly combative, with the DMK set to raise a range of issues including the Vande Mataram protocol controversy, the state debt inherited from the previous government, delays in implementing TVK's manifesto promises, and the law-and-order situation under the new administration.

The first Assembly session of the new government quickly turned politically charged as Udhayanidhi made it clear that the DMK would not remain a silent opposition despite losing power in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The DMK, which secured 59 seats in the election, is now positioning itself as a strong counterweight to Vijay's newly formed government.

Udhayanidhi urged TVK to honour its pledge to keep Tamil Thai Vazhthu first at all official events, calling the repeated Vande Mataram incidents an affront to Tamil identity.