A war of words has erupted between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with the former accusing the BJP-led Union government of being anti-farmer and of directing the discontinuation of the bonus above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy.
Stalin, who is also the DMK president and is leading the INDIA bloc in the poll-bound state, on Monday, dared the Finance Minister to release the letter from her Ministry to the Tamil Nadu government that allegedly asked it to consider discontinuing the paddy bonus. In a social media post responding to Sitharaman’s denial, he said, “If your current claim is true, will you place that letter in the public domain?”
“Despite never missing an opportunity to claim herself a Tamil, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is acting against the interests of farmers in the state. The DMK government’s incentive for paddy has resulted in a bumper crop. But Sitharaman wants the incentive to be withdrawn. The Union Finance Ministry has written to rescind the incentive for paddy farmers,” Stalin had charged at an election rally on Sunday evening, drawing a sharp and detailed rebuttal from the Finance Minister.
For the DMK and Stalin, this has become yet another opportunity to target the BJP and the AIADMK during the election period.
“In the letter your Ministry sent to the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, it is clearly stated that the state’s additional bonus has led to bumper production and that the state government should consider discontinuing the bonus. I have not stated anything that is not present in the letter, nor is there any need for me to,” Stalin wrote on X.
“While you have stated in your tweet that it is up to the state government to decide on a bonus above MSP for paddy farmers and that no one has taken away such rights, the letter sent to us clearly asked us to review the existing bonus policy and consider discontinuing it,” he pointed out, reiterating his challenge to make the letter public.
The Chief Minister’s post was in response to Sitharaman’s denial, in which she termed the charge “contrary to the truth” and “politically motivated,” and said it was intended to divert the attention of Tamil Nadu farmers—remarks she described as unbecoming of a person holding a constitutional office. She clarified that the Union government’s advisory “was sent to Chief Secretaries of all states, not only Tamil Nadu, to ensure that incentive policies are aligned with national priorities.”
Clarifying that offering a bonus above MSP remains exclusively within the domain of state governments and has not been curtailed, Sitharaman said the advisory was aimed at promoting crop diversification to achieve self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses, which would be more profitable for farmers. She also accused Stalin of acting with petty vested interests. “When the nation strives to find solutions, the DMK is engaged in creating controversies,” she added.