AIADMK leader and Opposition head Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) launched a strong verbal attack on the ruling DMK government, branding its style of governance as “Uruttukadai Halwa” — sweet in speech but hollow in delivery.

Addressing reporters in Chennai, Palaniswami displayed a packet of halwa stuffed with cotton to symbolize what he called the DMK’s empty promises. He accused the party of deceiving people with “sugary speeches” while failing to deliver concrete results, remarking that the current regime was giving “halwa, not governance”.

Palaniswami also criticized the administration for what he described as “criminal negligence” in the Coldrif cough syrup tragedy that claimed the lives of 25 children in Madhya Pradesh. He asserted that the syrup’s manufacturer, based in Kancheepuram, had previously been fined multiple times between 2019 and 2023 but was not inspected in 2024 or 2025 despite World Health Organization alerts. The failure to monitor the company, he claimed, exposed the inefficiency and lack of accountability within the DMK-led government’s health oversight system.