The DMK on Friday hit back at Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay over his allegation of a multi-crore scam in the procurement of books during the previous DMK regime, accusing him of seeking "cheap political mileage".
The party said the Chief Minister was making empty statements instead of using his official powers to audit the procurement records and establish the facts.
"The CM has joined his party's School Education Minister A Rajmohan and a band of 'virtual abusers' to fling mud at the DMK," former state minister Govi Chezhiaan said in a statement.
Responding to Vijay's allegations of irregularities in the procurement of books for the newly inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam Library in Coimbatore, Chezhiaan demanded an independent investigation in addition to an official audit.
He alleged that the DMK suspected a political conspiracy to deliberately discredit flagship projects undertaken by the previous government.
"The DMK stands firm that legal action must be taken against anyone found to be involved in the irregularities," he said.
Chezhiaan also pointed out that writer Perumal Murugan, who flagged errors in the procured books, had himself been appointed by the DMK to the committee tasked with selecting books for the library.
Earlier, Vijay had alleged corruption in the procurement of books for Periyar Knowledge World (Periyar Arivulagam) in Coimbatore during the DMK regime. He commended Murugan for exposing the alleged irregularities.
Describing the DMK as the "fountainhead of corruption", the Chief Minister accused the party of being "always a crowd of graft".
Taking a swipe at the DMK, he said a party that claims to champion the Tamil language, Tamil soil and dignity, while making tall promises to deceive the people, was itself a "crowd of corruption".
Vijay cited the book procurement for Periyar Arivulagam as an example.
He said a committee to recommend books for new libraries was constituted during the DMK regime and that a Government Order was issued on November 5, 2025.
"Perumal Murugan, who served on a committee responsible for recommending books, including modern literature, has himself brought to light the corruption involved in the procurement of books for Periyar Arivulagam.
He must be praised for uncovering the very source of this corruption," Vijay said.
The DMK leadership has claimed that it built Periyar Knowledge World after extensive scrutiny, but "the world now mocks it for meticulous graft in procurement", he alleged.
