Palaniswami assures people of bringing back hawala money stashed abroad in the event of victory

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday, February 21, 2026, promised the people of the State that if his party captures power in the Assembly elections, he will bring back the hawala money stashed in foreign countries to the State.

Continuing his State-wide tour from Ambattur near Chennai, Mr. Palaniswami alleged that the ruling DMK had “privatised” all the additional revenue earned by the State government and the “hawala” money had been placed abroad.

The AIADMK chief alleged that Chief Minister MK Stalin was “panicked” after the Madras High Court directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to immediately register a case based on materials shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 27, 2025, defeating the cash-for-work claim in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department led by Minister KN Nehru. He had connections with Mr. Palaniswami in a hawala case.

Accusing the DMK of pursuing “dynastic politics”, he said the pesent regime has failed to get approval for any major infrastructure project, unlike what his government did when it got the Union government’s nod for the second phase of the ₹63,000-crore Chennai metro rail project. The AIADMK leader, when he participated in a debate a few days ago, questioned why the Prime Minister was not in the Assembly and raised questions regarding the functioning of the DMK government.