Is Tamil Nadu's Treasury Really Empty? What Rs 10 Lakh Crore Debt Really Means

Tamil Nadu debt: In his first speech after being sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, TVK chief C Joseph Vijay on Sunday launched a scathing attack on his predecessor MK Stalin and the DMK-led government, claiming that the latter had left behind a massive debt burden of Rs 10 lakh crore and emptied the state treasury.
 

While addressing the gathering after taking the oath, the Chief Minister said that the financial condition of the state was far worse than expected and hinted at releasing a White Paper on Tamil Nadu’s finances for greater transparency.

“The condition in which our Tamil Nadu government has been left is something I have seen for myself," Vijay said, adding, “The last government has gone out after borrowing debts of more than Rs 10 lakh crore; the treasury has been completely emptied before they left office."

The remarks triggered a sharp response from former Chief Minister M K Stalin, who rejected the allegation that the state coffers were empty.

“Don’t start saying right away that the government has no money. It does have it. What’s needed is the will to give it to the people, and the ability to govern," Stalin said in a post on X.

The exchange mirrors a similar situation from 2021, when then Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan released a White Paper soon after the DMK came to power, describing Tamil Nadu’s finances as “dire" after a decade of AIADMK rule. Now, five years later, Vijay is preparing a similar exercise, this time blaming the outgoing DMK administration for leaving the state “in bad shape".