No truth to it: Tamil Nadu minister denies TVK MLA sent obscene texts to Collector

Tamil Nadu Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar has strongly denied allegations that TVK's Kallakurichi MLA C Arul Vignesh sent obscene WhatsApp messages to a woman district collector, describing the claims as false and baseless. He also criticised DMK MP Kanimozhi for raising the issue on social media without verifying the allegations.Reacting to Kanimozhi's post, Nirmal Kumar said the claims were based on unverified social media reports and had no truth to them. He questioned why the DMK leader had not sought clarification before making the allegations public, arguing that such posts could unfairly damage an individual's reputation."Will Kanimozhi accept it if we say something about her based on social media reports? This is so wrong. Can Kanimozhi do this? She is the starting point of this. There is no truth to this. She has full freedom to call anyone and check," Nirmal Kumar said.Describing Kanimozhi's post as condemnable, the minister said the government could not be expected to respond to every rumour circulating on social media. "We can't keep responding to any rumours. We have to appoint 10 spokespersons to address rumours. What Kanimozhi posted is wrong and nothing like that happened," he added.The minister's remarks come amid mounting political pressure on the ruling TVK government over the allegations against Arul Vignesh. The controversy has intensified after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay chaired a meeting of all MLAs in Mamallapuram, with the party facing criticism for not taking action against the legislator.DMK, AIADMK SEEK MLA'S ARREST Meanwhile, the DMK and AIADMK have escalated their campaign against the ruling party, moving beyond public criticism and social media posts to file formal complaints with senior government and police officials on Thursday.Both parties have demanded immediate legal action against Arul Vignesh, including his arrest, over the allegations of sending obscene WhatsApp messages to a woman district collector.The DMK petitioned the Director General of Police (DGP), seeking a fair and impartial investigation into the allegations and specifically called for the probe to be handed over to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), citing the seriousness of the allegations and the involvement of an elected representative and an IAS officer."The allegations, if true, disclose cognisable offences. They involve not only an outrage on the dignity of a woman, but also an attempt by an elected representative of the ruling party to intimidate the senior-most administrative officer of a district. Such conduct, if established, strikes at the heart of the rule of law and at the ability of officers, particularly women officers, to discharge their duties without fear or favour," DMK leader RS Bharathi said.Clarifying that the complaint did not seek to establish the MLA's guilt in advance, Bharathi said the objective was to ensure that allegations of such gravity were investigated fairly and independently.Earlier on Thursday, the AIADMK's legal wing also submitted a formal complaint to senior Tamil Nadu government officials, demanding criminal action against Arul Vignesh."The AIADMK legal wing has filed a formal complaint with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DGP, seeking immediate criminal action against the Kallakurichi MLA for allegedly sending obscene text messages to a woman district collector," AIADMK advocate wing secretary IS Inbadurai said on X.AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has also demanded action against the MLA, with the party seeking legal intervention in the matter.Arul Vignesh, meanwhile, has denied the allegations, describing them as "untrue".The controversy has placed the six-month-old TVK government under mounting pressure, with the DMK and AIADMK demanding an impartial investigation and criminal action against the legislator, while the Law Minister has dismissed the allegations as baseless.- Ends