The recent murders in Tamil Nadu, political and non-political, has prodded the opposition in the state to launch a scathing attack on the MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswamy claimed that Tamil Nadu is fast becoming a "killing field." He blamed the DMK government for its inability to prevent murders.
In a sarcastic message posted on social media, the AIADMK leader urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to take steps to prevent the murders instead of focusing on ways to 'claim credit for AIADMK schemes.'
Did DMK really call AIADMK schemes as its own?
AIADMK spokesperson Apsara Reddy replies in the affirmative.
"DMK is all about sticker schemes. All the welfare programmes they’ve announced or claim success for are AIADMK schemes. Be it free meals to students or medical colleges that they are busily opening. All have been sanctioned by AIADMK regime. Most bridges that DMK has opened were built during AIADMK regime. Even the old age pension scheme has been stopped by the DMK govt in many districts," Apsara Reddy told TNIE.
However, political observers say DMK can claim credit for several social welfare schemes launched by both, the late leader M Karunanidhi and lately his son and Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Leaders of the DMK and its allies to which TNIE spoke to said that the opposition is targeting DMK on the law and order issue since it has nothing else to target the government with.
Meanwhile, Palaniswamy claimed that in the past one week murders were reported in Chennai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruchy, Karur, Coimbatore, Sivagangai and Kanniyakumari and noted that murders will have a direct impact on the development of the state.
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator Seeman claimed that there were more than 100 murders in the last 30 days in Tamil Nadu.
BSP leader Armstrong's murder
The brutal murder of Bahujan Samaj Party state chief K Armstrong during the first week of July had triggered an avalanche of criticism against the government.
Armstrong was hacked to death by a gang outside his residence in Chennai. Police claimed Armstrong was murdered to avenge the killing of one Arcot Suresh on August 2023. One of the eight youths who surrendered before the police soon after the murder was Arcot Suresh' younger brother Ponnai Balu. Both Armstrong and Suresh were allegedly involved in a "financial fraud" in Chennai.
Dalit movements and leaders affirmed it is a political murder while the police attributed the murder to gang rivalry.
To make things worse, one of the accused, Thiruvengadam, was killed by the police in an encounter on July 13 near Madhavaram in Chennai.
Following Armstrong's murder, a Naam Tamilar Katchi leader was murdered in Madurai, a BJP functionary was murdered in Sivagangai and a Congress councillor in Kanniyakumari.
Amid the criticisims against the government, poet and DMK member Salma dismissed the opposition allegation as "unnecessary" saying that they are targeting the government on the law and order issue since they have nothing else to criticise the government for.
The same view was echoed by Tamil Nadu Youth Congress leader Lenin Prasad. He further pointed out that the state police had dealt with the killers of Armstrong with an iron hand. "Even now, the arrests continue in connection with the case," he noted.
"When AIADMK was in power, the state witnessed incidents sponsored by the government, say for instance, the police firing at innocent anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi which claimed the lives of 13 people on May 22, 2018," recalled Salma to assert that law and order is under control under the MK Stalin government.
TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai said that following the murder of the political leader Armstrong, Chief Minister M K Stalin himself directly intervened and ensured that action was taken against the assailants.
"CM Stalin continues to ensure that the law and order in the state is under control," he noted.
But things are not as rosy as being made out by the allies of the DMK. In fact, Dalit activists had questioned the silence of the allies, including Dalit parties, when it came to Armstrong's murder. The silence of the once firebrand Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan has been disappointing for many of his supporters.
MK Stalin has his work cut out ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. The only thing that works in his favour is that the opposition looks fragile and divided. But overconfidence may prove to be costly.