COIMBATORE: The stars may have aligned for Kanimozhi Santhosh in the Assembly election, but they are now casting a shadow. Days after her victory in Kavundampalayam, the TVK MLA-elect is facing backlash as her past claims about “medical astrology” have gone viral. She defeated AIADMK’s PRG Arunkumar by a margin of 42,140 votes.
At 37, Kanimozhi wears multiple hats — lawyer, granite-and-tiles entrepreneur, and social media influencer with a loyal following. But it is her past assertions as an astrologer that are now drawing intense scrutiny. She had publicly promoted “medical astrology,” claiming it could treat serious illnesses and even determine the timing and necessity of surgeries. Videos of these claims have resurfaced and gone viral. In them, she suggests that conditions such as cancer, infertility, and obesity can be addressed through planetary alignments. The clips have provided ammunition for critics who wonder whether the electorate consulted their birth charts before casting their votes. Memes, one-liners, and sarcastic calls for Kanimozhi to be appointed state health minister have flooded timelines. One voter summed up the mood: “The city already gets trolled for falling for emu farms and dubious schemes. Now we’ve elected an astrologer to the Assembly.”
Meanwhile, TVK supporters have launched a vigorous defence. Dubbed “virtual warriors”, party workers are pushing alternative narratives and attempting to remove the viral clips, efforts that have done little to stem their spread. Whether Kanimozhi’s tenure will be defined by governance or controversy remains to be seen.
