Chennai: “Arresting the Leader of the Opposition just to prevent him from participating in the Legislative Assembly session beginning tomorrow is blatant cowardice,” said DMK MP Kanimozhi, expressing condemnation. DMK General Secretary Durai Murugan and former Minister Thangam Thennarasu also condemned it.
In a statement issued by DMK General Secretary Durai Murugan, I strongly condemn the cowardly TVK government, which lacks the courage to face Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin in the House, for unleashing the police and arresting him at a time when the budget session is about to begin.
The government, which did not speak out yesterday about the demands raised by the party for farmers in Thanjavur, has now, shaken by the surge of that protest, arrested the Leader of the Opposition, a key pillar of democracy, on a baseless false case. This is the height of anarchy. A very grave murder of democracy.
In Chief Minister Vijay’s “Apprentice” administration, with law and order deteriorating, electricity bill complaints troubling people across the state, ministers without any substance putting on a show, oppressive measures reflecting the arrogance of “say a word and you’ll be jailed,” TVK functionaries getting caught one after another in sexual cases, and above all the Chief Minister’s silence and indifference over the Cauvery issue that brings tears to Delta farmers, the rowdy TVK government, already trembling in fear today at the questions the Leader of the Opposition is set to raise in the Assembly session beginning tomorrow, has fabricated a claim that he said something he did not say in Thanjavur, filed an FIR on the basis of imaginary allegations, and arrested him in a hurry, even in violation of the High Court’s instructions.
They have unleashed this lawlessness to stage the chaos of tyrannical rule. As the height of fascism, Chief Minister Vijay, who has had our Opposition Leader arrested on false charges, is now running a government supported by parties borrowed from the DMK alliance, yet for some reason, intoxicated by “power,” he has forgotten this and is playing the flute.
Chief Minister Vijay cannot intimidate the DMK like this. He cannot threaten our Opposition Leader either. We will face this too; we will face anything. Even if he does not answer in the Assembly, this government must answer to the people,” he said.
Moreover, in her X post on this, DMK MP Kanimozhi said, “If the government wants to personally take revenge on Opposition Leader Udayanidhi, let it file a case. Let the court deliver its verdict. But, unable to confront the DMK, which is in the opposition, the TVK government engaging in such acts of repression is unlawful.
Arresting him solely to prevent the Opposition Leader from participating in the Legislative Assembly session beginning tomorrow is blatant cowardice,” she said.
Furthermore, in his X post, former minister Thangam Thennarasu said, “The arrest action being taken against Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin is a direct attack on democratic rights. The peak of repression and the tendency toward political vendetta call into question the very foundations of democracy.
Unleashing repression against those who speak out against the ruling party does not show the strength of the government; rather, it reveals its fear. Trying to suppress the opposition’s voice through cases and arrests is completely contrary to democratic traditions and political civility. This is not an action against a leader; it is political vendetta against Tamil Nadu’s voice for rights,” he said.
