In the by-election that has just concluded, Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK has emerged victorious in the Madhuranthakam and Dharapuram constituencies.
In both of these constituencies, DMK has secured second place, while AIADMK has come in third. In this situation, DMK leader M.K. Stalin has posted a message on his X page. In that post, he said, "An interim victory for betrayal.
The downfall of politics built on false images has begun! I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the voters who cast their votes for the candidates of the Secular Progressive Alliance led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the recently concluded Madhuranthakam and Dharapuram by-elections.
I would like to express my gratitude to all the volunteers, frontline workers, comrades, and leaders of the alliance parties who worked extremely hard in both constituencies.
This by-election was forced just five months after the Assembly election. Before the ink on the votes had even dried, two MLAs trampled on the people’s mandate, resigned from their posts, and joined the ruling party the very next moment. It was a blatant murder of democracy. That is why this by-election was held.
The ruling party faced the election by announcing only two resigned individuals as candidates. Backed by the power of office, the power of governance, financial muscle, and police power, T.V.K. contested this election. Vijay, who entered the political arena relying solely on his cinematic charisma and became Chief Minister through horse-trading despite lacking a majority, believed that reel-style visuals would come to his aid in this by-election as well.
He drank tea, drove a tractor, picked drumsticks, and went from street to street. In no by-election had a sitting chief minister ever gone from street to street like this. He acted with the resolve that only if he won these two constituencies would he have a political future from then on.
The Chief Minister was in both constituencies for four days. The people brought in from outside the area, the barricades placed on all the roads he was to travel, the gifts distributed, and the statements given by the ruling party candidate himself about how much was spent only on ministers—all of this shows how tense T.V.K. was in trying to secure this victory.
The man who was said to be someone who would be beaten up if he spoke for even five minutes was made to wander in the scorching sun for four days, and the people gave him a beating. Chief Minister Vijay should at least now understand what party, elections, and public service mean and act accordingly.
Only after the election date was announced did he announce schemes such as the expansion of free travel for women, the maternal uncle’s gold ring, and the brother’s gift. This itself was a violation of the election code of conduct. It is by committing such various violations that T.V.K. has obtained this result.
As far as I am concerned, betrayal has achieved a temporary victory. At the same time, the downfall of false-image politics has begun!
Money was given through GPay, and gift items were distributed. We also saw scenes where even the parties supporting this government admitted in interviews that the entire town was bought. In a video released the night before the election, we saw the candidate himself admitting that crores were spent lavishly. This exposed the guise of being a pure force.
Behind the scenes, false news was spread to buy the votes of a few more parties. The entire cabinet was confined within two constituencies for three weeks. People who protested against the traitorous candidates were threatened by the police. They even arrested a 17-year-old youth.
They were pushed into a situation where they had to blackmail voters with, “If you don’t vote for the ruling party, we won’t do anything for the constituency.” Government employees were also threatened during voting and made to work in support. An elderly woman even gave an open interview saying, “They told us to vote for the sun symbol, but they made us press the whistle.”
In this way, the T.V.K. government misused all of its official power for the by-election.
The fake image built around the idea that Vijay would change everything with a five-minute speech was torn apart and left hanging within just four months. No chief minister has ever suffered such a decline in such a short time after coming to power.
Even though the parties it had criticized as “cash-box alliance parties” are now allied with it and facing the election together, the by-election results have been such that, above all else, they push them into a mindset of “winning by any means is enough.”
No matter what was done, nothing could shake the people’s trust in the DMK. The Chief Minister spoke targeting only the DMK. But he could not dent the DMK’s influence.
What is most important here is that all the votes received by the parties that took the field against the foul-smelling, traitorous force, T.V.K., were votes against the government! Those are the majority! This government has once again been rejected by the majority of the people.
I request that, instead of horse-trading, MLA shopping, acts of revenge, disgusting speeches, obscene gestures, and focusing only on making reels, the rulers should from now on focus on public welfare work.
I once again express my heartfelt thanks to all my comrades who travel with policy and purpose, without worrying about election victories or defeats.
I extend my thanks and appreciation to the party comrades who gave a fierce fight on the field and kept the ruling party members in fear.
My heartfelt thanks to the leaders, office-bearers, and comrades of all alliance parties who stood shoulder to shoulder and worked together!
We will continue our campaign every day without pause to tear away the mask of Chief Minister Vijay, who has come to power by exploiting cinema glamour, deceiving the people through it, and is now running the government as a puppet of a few corporate mafias. He is caught in the grip of forces hostile to Tamil Nadu. The people will soon fully realize that," he posted.
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