The Tamil Nadu Police have filed cases against senior DMK leaders A Raja and P K Sekar Babu, as well as party MLA Vasantham Karthikeyan. This action follows allegations of defamatory remarks made against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. The information was reported by the PTI news agency, citing an official source on Tuesday.
The TVK chief also seemingly held his jaw with one hand as if to lift it, a gesture that was seen by some to mock Stalin, who suffered a jaw fracture in an assault by the police following his arrest under MISA. However, the Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist and Communist Party of India, which extend ‘outside’ support to the ruling TVK government, took exception to Vijay’s conduct. DMK leaders, including party chief Stalin, responded to Vijay’s remarks.
Speaking about his detention, Stalin said the DMK had held a major gathering at Marina Beach in 1976 to oppose the Emergency and criticise MISA, and recalled that police then went to the Karunanidhi residence in Gopalapuram to arrest him under MISA.
However, Vijay later said his body language was unintentional , not targeted at anyone and that there was no “ulterior motive” behind it. Stalin said Vijay “must not talk about unnecessary controversies in the Assembly”, and accused the actor-turned-politician of using social media reels and publicity to cover-up his administrative failures. The former Tamil Nadu CM said he was away campaigning at the time.
Raja, without naming Kumar, said in a social media post on Sunday that he also regretted “questioning him. During a protest organised by the DMK to condemn Vijay’s speech in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Raja responded to remarks made by the chief minister and TVK minister Nirmal Kumar. However, the DMK deputy general secretary later expressed regret over his remarks on Kumar, following backlash from several quarters. Several parties, including the Congress and the Left, slammed Raja for his remarks. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi also criticised the statements. The row erupted after Tamil Nadu CM Vijay mentioned the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during recent Assembly proceedings.
