Any issue has many facets. The perspectives of different people will vary. An effort to bring all of them together in one place is `Kalam’
What we are going to see in this mini series is ’Legislative Assembly 2026' — various personalities from different fields will present their views on this controversy in detail.
(Disclaimer: All the views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. They are not the views of Vikatan - Editor)
For the past sixty years in Tamil Nadu, the DMK and the AIADMK have alternated in power. Under their rule, the people of Tamil Nadu were never fully aware of what was happening in the Assembly. The parties that governed in the past also seemed to have had the mindset that people should not know what was going on there.
The TVK government has now changed that situation.
The TVK government has created a setting in which people can directly and fully see how the Chief Minister functions in the Assembly, how the ministers respond, how the MLAs act, and how the opposition parties behave.
That is the TVK government's most important achievement.
“They’re just kids... they have no political experience... they don’t know anything,” the DMK members initially mocked the TVK people.
They even insulted them as “incompetents.” But the people shattered the DMK’s criticism to pieces. They voted for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and placed it on the throne.
Under TVK rule, Assembly proceedings are being fully live-streamed. At the very mention of ‘full live telecast’, the DMK members panic. They complain, ‘How can everything be telecast live?’
In the recent budget session, our ministers answered even the questions asked by DMK and AIADMK members clearly. They responded with statistics. No matter which department was asked about, the ministers were prepared enough to answer with the relevant information.
That is the competence of governance.
At the same time, what did the opposition DMK members do?
They ran up and surrounded, shouted slogans, banged on desks, threw mobile phones, pointed fingers in threat, and encircled the Speaker, behaving in a manner unbecoming of the dignity of the Legislative Assembly.
Is this the opposition’s democratic struggle?
No. This is an act that disgraces the Legislative Assembly.
‘Whose is the Speaker?’
In this session, we must especially appreciate the Speaker’s conduct. The DMK side alleged that the Speaker was acting in favor of the ruling party. But the time allocation released by the Speaker itself answered that accusation.
DMK members were given 33 hours, and AIADMK members were given 18 hours to speak in the Assembly. Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam members were given only 16 hours. In such a situation, it cannot be said that the Speaker acted in favor of the ruling party.
How did the Speaker function in the previous regime? It is the Chief Minister or the ministers who should answer the allegations and questions raised by the opposition. But many times, the Speaker himself would answer everything they were supposed to say. However, the current Speaker is not like that. He functions as a Speaker common to everyone. That is the true dignity of the legislature.
‘Why was the Chief Minister silent?’
The opposition criticized Chief Minister Vijay for not speaking much in the assembly. They should understand that this is simply his style. Chief Minister Vijay always responds through his actions. He does not speak unnecessarily. In the assembly, he listened quietly to the allegations raised by the opposition and took notes. We expected the Chief Minister to respond at the end of the debate on the police department’s grant demand. Accordingly, he responded that day.
The opposition thought the Chief Minister’s silence was a sign of weakness. On that day, the DMK members saw that if provoked, he would rise like a lion.
We have never said that there are no law and order problems in Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister himself has said that the drug problem is a major challenge. He has understood the depth of the problem to the extent of saying, “We have cut the branch; we must cut down the tree.”
Thousands of cases have been registered. Hundreds of people have been arrested. Steps are being taken to fill the vacant posts in the police department.
The drug culture is a major reason behind many crimes, including murder and robbery. The failure to address this problem in the past is the main reason for the current issues. The Chief Minister has presented all this with statistics.
‘I know the history of the DMK!’
Above all, it is the Chief Minister’s remarks about the “history of the DMK” that the DMK members have turned into a major controversy. They proudly speak of the “DMK’s legacy” and the “DMK’s history.” What the Chief Minister pointed out in the Assembly was that there is another side to that history as well.
When asked where the DMK’s history begins, he said it begins with corruption. From the Sarkaria Commission to various corruption allegations, they have all been recorded in history. Those facts cannot be hidden in history. The documents and evidence for them are in libraries.
The DMK has been continuously speaking about the MISA period. They keep talking about who was arrested and what atrocities took place. We are not saying that they should not speak about it. But the other side of this must also be spoken about. There is a need to explain the full history of the MISA period to the people clearly and in detail.
One is the Sarkaria Commission, set up by the Central Congress government to investigate the corruption of the DMK regime. The other is MISA. On both these issues, the DMK speaks harshly about the actions of the Congress government. But two years later, it once again entered into a political relationship with the same Congress. How?
You say you were beaten, kicked, and that City Babu died, and yet when political necessity arose, why did you form an alliance with the same Congress? That is the question.
There are many things in history, such as the political compromises of that period, the issues related to the Sarkaria Commission, and the compromise made by the DMK government in the Cauvery dispute. How is it fair to hide all of those and speak only of the atrocities of MISA? How can that be a complete history?
‘Alliance... for ideology, or for self-defense?’
Whenever corruption allegations are made against the DMK, they have made it a habit to give more constituencies to their alliance partner. We saw that in the election held after the MISA period. We saw it during the 2G era as well. Why did the DMK give more constituencies to the Congress party, even though it was not a party with great strength in Tamil Nadu?
So, was it an alliance based on ideology, or an alliance for political self-defense? This is the question we ask when looking at the DMK’s past politics.
Now look at Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin. Generally, there is a tradition for how a person in the position of Opposition Leader should behave in the Assembly. He has a responsibility to uphold that tradition.
But the way he behaved in this session was disrespectful to the office of the Opposition Leader. Even when the Chief Minister was replying, Udhayanidhi Stalin and other DMK members kept interrupting and not letting him speak. How is that democratic?
You asked a question. The Chief Minister is giving an answer. Isn’t it the duty of the Opposition Leader to listen to that answer? Instead, what kind of legislative democracy is it to prevent him from answering?
“Political criticism is one thing... personal insult is another!”
In politics, one can criticize the opposition. One can criticize policies. One can criticize the government. But speaking in a way that personally demeans a family and women is not political decency.
We also question the DMK’s political decency. The words used by DMK members when speaking about women have crossed the line many times. Former minister Ponmudy’s remarks are one example of this. Likewise, the comments made by DMK Member of Parliament A. Raja about the family members of then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami are known to everyone for how disgraceful they were.
If A. Raja speaks in a way that insults women’s motherhood, shouldn’t DMK leader M.K. Stalin condemn it? Why is he silent? Because he too has made such remarks. M.K. Stalin himself carried out a personal attack in the Assembly against AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami, saying things like he “crawled and went and fell at Sasikala’s feet.”
In the same style, some of Udhayanidhi Stalin’s speeches have also been like that. The whole world saw how obscenely and insultingly Udhayanidhi spoke before farmers in Thanjavur, degrading women. But even today, he continues to justify that speech. How can this be accepted?
‘The people are watching!’
Today, the DMK is in the opposition. But DMK members are still doing politics in their old style. They are in the mindset that they are experienced and that no one can stand up to them. However, the people of Tamil Nadu have already changed that mindset in the elections. The people have proved that those from the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam cannot be looked down upon just because they are young.
In the Assembly too, TVK members are speaking about the issues in their constituencies. They are raising various questions. The ministers are answering them. The Chief Minister responds fully when necessary. The Speaker is acting impartially. This is the new politics we are seeing. The DMK should understand this.
But in the protest the DMK conducted against TVK, DMK leaders are speaking as they please about the Chief Minister and the ministers. TVK will certainly give a fitting response to that. We will answer their allegations with statistics.
The people are watching who is preserving political decorum, the functioning of governance, and the dignity of the Assembly. If the DMK does not change its old style of politics, it is certain that in the upcoming elections too, the people will not hesitate to deliver an even harsher verdict!