“Theft” of candidates by “sheer” force caused by elections, Kanimozhi claims

K. Kanimozhi. File | Photo credit: Rajesh N.

DMK Parliamentary Party President Kanimozhi on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) said the by-elections to the Maduranthagam and Dharapuram assembly constituencies have seen “candidate-stealing by those (TVK) who have declared themselves pure force”.

“With her actions, ‘pure’ force has become ‘theft’,” she said while campaigning for party candidate I. Paranthamen in Maduranthagam constituency.

She said the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) should have stopped forming the government after it “appropriated” MLAs from political parties that were part of the DMK alliance. “But it stole people’s representatives and caused by-elections,” she said in an apparent reference to the resignation of AIADMK MLAs who later joined TVK and now entered the fray on her ticket.

Ms. Kanimozhi said that DMK president MK Stalin has fielded Mr. Paranthamen who will fight and defend the Dravidian ideology and more importantly, he will remain in the party after his election and will not resort to defections.

“You took pity on the candidate and voted for her in the elections. But she switched to the ruling party. If you vote for AIADMK again, there may be another by-election,” she said. She added that even the “repressive measures” and arrests did not force the DMK leader to switch parties.

Ms. Kanimozhi said she prefers to address Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay as “Sweet Bro” and accused him of campaigning among children, asking them to convince their parents to vote for him.

“A case is pending against him for inciting children to convince their parents to vote for him. The Chief Minister, who campaigned among children, tried to cover up the death of a girl in Vandalur as it would affect his campaign in Madurantakam,” she said.

She alleged that another girl was also sexually assaulted and alleged that the Chief Minister did not speak about the incident. “But our leader Stalin spoke to the girl’s parents and promised all help,” she said.

Ms. Kanimozhi said that although the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has described Tamil Nadu as a safe state for women, the state has witnessed 500 crimes, including 300 sexual assaults on women and children, 200 murders, eight custodial deaths and 10 honor killings in the four months since the TVK came to power.

Published – 30 Sep 2026 22:08 IST