CHENNAI: The arrest of DMK youth wing secretary and Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, which the DMK has termed as an act of “political vendetta”, has once again brought to light Tamil Nadu’s long history of politically contentious arrests.
For nearly five decades, the state has witnessed a recurring cycle of arrests of former chief ministers, former ministers, journalists and activists, with political parties calling the arrests politically motivated.
Soon after the DMK government led by M Karunanidhi was dismissed on January 31, 1976, numerous party members, including M K Stalin, were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Later, in October 1977, Karunanidhi and several DMK leaders were arrested for staging black-flag demonstrations against former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Since 1996, allegations of political vendetta have accompanied almost every change of government in TN. The DMK government’s arrest of ex-CM J Jayalalithaa in December 1996 in corruption cases marked the beginning of the phase. She spent about a month in prison.
Five years later, in June 2001, the AIADMK government led by Jayalalithaa arrested former CM M Karunanidhi in a dramatic midnight operation in the Chennai flyover scam case. Union ministers Murasoli Maran and T R Baalu were also detained for intervening.
In July 2002, MDMK general secretary Vaiko and several party members were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for speeches allegedly supporting the LTTE at a public meeting. Vaiko spent nearly 18 months in prison before being granted bail in 2004.
After Jayalalithaa returned to power in 2011, special police cells investigated land-grabbing complaints. Several former DMK ministers, including Veerapandi and KN Nehru, were arrested. In June 2023, the ED arrested V Senthil Balaji in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to a cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as transport minister in the AIADMK government.