EPS has criticized Chief Minister Vijay in the Periyar intellectual corruption issue, saying that the same enthusiasm shown in road shows and action should also be reflected in the library infrastructure.
Regarding this, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami said on his X page,
"It is deeply shocking that writer Perumal Murugan has alleged that corruption worth several crores of rupees took place in the purchase of books for the recently opened "Periyar Arivulagam" in Coimbatore.
It is utterly unacceptable that corruption worth crores has taken place even in libraries, which are meant to improve people’s thinking and satisfy their thirst for knowledge. It is noteworthy that reel Chief Minister Vijay, who creates fake images and runs a “wooden horse” government, only recently inaugurated this Periyar intellectual building.
Shouldn’t even a little of the enthusiasm shown in conducting roadshows and waving to cameras for effect have been directed toward examining whether books were properly procured for the library he was opening, and whether the infrastructure for it was in order?
Did the Chief Minister think his duty was over just because he came made up like for a film shoot, cut the ribbon, performed at the inauguration ceremony, and left? Do the mouths of these same rulers, who now talk endlessly saying it was a project of the previous government, remember all the things they said during the opening ceremony?
This government, which is holding a press conference today and speaking so much, should it not have checked the books that had arrived before opening the library? Even if the Chief Minister himself had directly inaugurated a library named after their ideological leader, it is still wrong for this government to have remained indifferent without even doing a minimum level of scrutiny!
Moreover, the ruling party says it was not us who made the mistake, it was the DMK; and the DMK, in turn, says it was not us who made the mistake, it was the TVK, and they keep accusing each other and confusing the people.
They have left themselves confused, confused the people too, and pushed Tamil Nadu into a state of continuous confusion. This state of confusion is nothing new to this muddled, false-horse government.
The same Electricity Minister who once shouted in the Assembly that buying one unit of electricity for ₹20 was corruption is today purchasing one unit of electricity for as much as ₹40 and plundering the people’s tax money. Is this not corruption? Is this not a blatant lie meant to deceive the people?
Citing the high prices of tar and construction materials, the Public Works Minister canceled the tenders that day. But the price of tar, which was ₹48,000 per ton that day, has now touched ₹1,00,000 and risen to the sky. Even now, no new tenders have been issued, and no work has been carried out. So then, who benefited from canceling the tender that day, and what was the gain? Isn’t this an act that confuses the people?
Therefore, in the Periyar Arivulaga corruption case, whether it is the TVK government or the previous DMK government, our position is that whoever has committed wrongdoing must face strict legal action! Therefore, regarding the Periyar Arivulaga book procurement scam, I urge this fake-horse government on behalf of the AIADMK to immediately set up a commission of inquiry headed by a retired High Court judge and take swift action against everyone involved in this scam," he has posted.
The allegation by writer Perumal Murugan that there has been corruption worth several crores of rupees in the purchase of books at the recently opened "Periyar Arivulagam" in Coimbatore is deeply shocking.
— Edappadi K Palaniswami-SayYEStoWomenSafety&AIADMK (@EPSTamilNadu) November 7, 2026
To improve the people's thinking and satisfy their thirst for knowledge…
