In the case filed alleging that Rs. 100 crore was collected by claiming to secure government approvals for private schools, the arrest of former minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi by the Chennai Central Crime Branch police has caused a stir among party members.
Already, the DMK has been facing severe corruption allegations one after another, including alleged irregularities in appointments made by K.N. Nehru in the Municipal Administration Department, accusations against Minister E.V. Velu of having committed a Rs. 3.2 crore scam in the Highways Department without even laying roads, and cases against former minister Senthil Balaji over irregularities in Tasmac procurement and bar licenses.
Arrests and corruption allegations
In this situation, how is the DMK going to handle the arrests taking place and the growing corruption allegations? With that question, we contacted senior journalist Swaminathan and spoke to him.
"Ever since the day TVK came to power in Tamil Nadu, Vijay has been continuously making allegations against the DMK. In particular, he has been speaking lines like, 'I will not spare those who touched, and I will not spare those who touch.'
Another thing he keeps saying is how much party fund (Party Fund) they collected during the DMK regime. Now, by-elections are coming up for five constituencies.
That is the real crisis for the DMK
They are laying the groundwork for new faces like Dhanush to emerge; moves such as meeting women’s wing office-bearers and giving silver lamp gifts are taking place.
For TVK, it must keep reinforcing the position that 'we are the direct rival to the DMK.' While maintaining that stance, the Anbil Mahesh issue will fit well with the allegations they can make regarding party finances.
Moreover, when Vijay himself goes directly to the field and speaks about all these arrest actions, their impact will be something else entirely, and that is what will become the real crisis for the DMK.
The words “the party will stand by him” are not in it!
During the earlier Jayalalithaa-Kalaignar regime, there were alternating election cases and arrests. But what makes this different is that the political climate itself has changed now. That is why this is gaining importance as a major crisis for the DMK.
Instead of speaking about him as an individual and saying, “He too is a corrupt politician,” Vijay is framing DMK as a “corrupt party.” Countering that will be a major challenge for DMK.
In the condemnation statement M.K. Stalin issued when Anbil Mahesh was arrested yesterday, the only words were, “Anbil Mahesh will face this legally,” and there was no mention of, “The party will stand by him.”
The pressure to break false assumptions.!
Although it is the DMK legal wing that handles the case in court, at first glance DMK does not want to come to the forefront. They are playing it safe.
Because they do not want the public to get the impression that “DMK stands by corruption,” and at the same time, this has not yet been proven as corruption in court.
But when Vijay goes for the by-election, just as he said, “There were 3 files in front of me,” DMK is under pressure to prove that the two things they mentioned—“corruption” and “party funds”—are false assumptions.
Will DMK take this tone?
To confront that, DMK members will sharpen their attack. They will speak even more forcefully about law-and-order issues. Besides, if asked how DMK will counter this, they will take the line of saying, “Even when there were cases against people like Karur Vijayabaskar and Viralimalai Vijayabaskar in the previous AIADMK regime, you brought them into the party, didn’t you?” That tone will be a shield for them.
Will create a certain sense of fear
They will accuse TVK, saying, “It is not right for you to talk about eradicating corruption while also taking in corrupt people.” That could create some pressure for TVK.
But the arrest of Anbil Mahesh will create a certain amount of fear among district-level second-tier leaders and administrators.
Arrest actions will become a major opportunity for Vijay. Normally, under Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, permission from the Governor is required to arrest former ministers. But when an arrest is made even without obtaining the Governor’s permission, the DMK cannot speak about it publicly and can only raise it in court.
Therefore, reducing this to the argument of “corruption” will create a major crisis for the DMK. These arrest actions will become a major opportunity for Vijay to step directly into the upcoming by-election arenas and speak forcefully against the DMK,” he explained.
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