Addressing an election rally at Thuraiyur, Mr. Gandhi said the BJP wanted to remove Mr. Stalin from the Chief Minister post and replace him with a puppet from the AIADMK. Calling Mr. Modi a “compromised Prime Minister”, Mr. Gandhi said U.S. President Donald Trump controlled Mr. Modi.

“Whatever Mr. Trump says Mr. Modi will do. If Mr. Trump says jump, Mr. Modi will jump. This is what Mr. Modi exactly wants the AIADMK Chief Minister to do,” he said, adding that this resulted in the India-U.S. trade deal. He had sold the country’s commerce, small and medium businesses, data and energy security to the US as he wanted to protect his own image.