‘Stealing’ of candidates by ‘clean’ force caused byelection, alleges Kanimozhi

K. Kanimozhi. File | Photo Credit: Rajesh N. DMK parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) alleged the byelections to the Maduranthagam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies had been necessitated by the “stealing of candidates by those [TVK] who had proclaimed themselves a clean force”.“By its actions, the ‘clean’ force has become a ‘stealing’ force,” she said while campaigning for party candidate I. Paranthamen in the Maduranthagam constituency.She said the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) should have stopped with forming the government after “appropriating” MLAs from political parties that were part of the DMK alliance. “But it has stolen people’s representatives and caused a by-election,” she said in an apparent reference to the resignation of AIADMK MLAs, who later joined the TVK and have entered the fray on its ticket now.Ms. Kanimozhi said DMK president M.K. Stalin had fielded Mr. Paranthamen, who would fight for and defend the Dravidian ideology and, more importantly, remain with the party after his election and not resort to defection.“You took pity on the candidate and voted for her in the election. But she defected to the ruling party. If you vote for the AIADMK again, there may be another by-election,” she said. She added that even “oppressive measures” and arrests had not forced DMK leaders to change sides.Ms. Kanimozhi said she would prefer to address Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay as “Sweet Bro” and accused him of campaigning among children and asking them to persuade their parents to vote for him.“There is a case against him for instigating children to persuade their parents to vote for him. The Chief Minister, who campaigned among children, sought to cover up the death of a girl in Vandalur as it would affect his campaign in Madurantakam,” she alleged.She claimed another girl had also been sexually assaulted and alleged that the Chief Minister had not spoken about the incident. “But our leader Stalin spoke to the parents of the girl and promised all help,” she said.Ms. Kanimozhi said that though the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had described Tamil Nadu as a safe State for women, the State had witnessed 500 crimes, including 300 sexual assaults against women and children, 200 murders, eight custodial deaths and 10 honour killings in the four months since the TVK came to power. Published - September 30, 2026 10:08 pm IST