DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday backed the CJP's proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, asserting that "dissent is not a crime", and that democracy cannot survive by silencing those who rise to defend it.
He alleged that the scenes unfolding in Delhi and the "scale of repression being unleashed against peaceful protesters" bring back to him the painful memories of the infamous Emergency (1975-77) that he lived through.
In a statement, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister said that all political leaders, students and young protesters detained in Delhi and all other parts of the country must be released immediately.
He strongly condemned the TVK government for what he described as acting as an extension of the BJP and unleashing police repression against protesters in Chennai.
Further, he alleged: "The union government must immediately end its assault on the youth who are peacefully exercising their democratic right to protest. Dissent is not a crime, and democracy cannot survive by silencing those who rise to defend it."
The resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is non-negotiable. Beyond his resignation, "all the damage done to the institutional framework of the Election Commission must be undone, and its independence and integrity restored," he said.
The TVK emerged as the single largest party following the April 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, and the Congress party, a pre-poll ally of the DMK, walked out of the alliance led by the Dravidian party, which lost power.
Congress formed a post-poll alliance with the TVK and became a part of the CM Vijay-led Tamil Nadu Cabinet.
Recently, the TVK-led alliance was christened Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance and on October 3, 2026, TVK formally joined the INDIA Bloc, led by the Congress.
Against this background, the Stalin-led DMK fully distanced itself from the INDIA Bloc-led initiatives, though extending support to the demand for the CEC's removal from office and also pledging to back related initiatives in the Parliament.
(With inputs from PTI)