CHENNAI: On the last day of campaigning for the bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Sunday appealed to voters to reject the “evil forces” and “exhausted forces” that have deceived people for long, and support the TVK candidates contesting on behalf of the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance.
Campaigning in Dharapuram for the second time since Wednesday, he said DMK chief MK Stalin’s comments about TVK candidate Sathyabama were unfit to be repeated, and warned that he would not stay silent if such demeaning comments are made about mothers, sisters and women. He traced such rhetoric to the days of MGR and Jayalalithaa, and asked why today’s AIADMK was keeping the DMK at arm’s length only in name.
Meanwhile, DMK chief MK Stalin on Sunday posed four questions to the TVK, alleging that its “reel” of portraying itself as a “pure” force had unravelled in four months. In a post on X, he questioned how Vijay could project himself as a protector of women while retaining people accused of sexual violence as MLAs and district secretaries.
He also alleged that money was being distributed to voters. Stalin urged them to factor in the increase in power tariff and the rising prices of essentials before casting their votes. In a separate statement, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami called for a “stinging rebuke” to the “traitors” recontesting on TVK’s symbol. He urged voters to give a verdict that would be a lesson to both the TVK and the defectors.
Case filed against Udhaya
Tiruppur: The district police on Sunday registered a case against Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for engaging a child in a bypoll campaign in Dharapuram. While canvassing votes for DMK candidate S Suganya in Dharapuram on Saturday evening, Udhayanidhi lifted a minor boy onto his campaign vehicle, and the boy criticised the CM