Bypoll-eve booking: Udhayanidhi Stalin faces police case for putting a minor on the campaign van in Dharapuram

Two days before Dharapuram votes, the Tiruppur district police have booked one of the DMK's biggest campaigners. A case was registered on Sunday at the Dharapuram Police Station against Udhayanidhi Stalin, the DMK leader and Tamil Nadu's Leader of the Opposition, for allegedly involving a child in an election campaign meeting and making the child speak in a manner insulting to the Chief Minister. According to a police press release, the incident took place on Saturday at a campaign meeting near the Periyar statue in Dharapuram town, where Udhayanidhi was canvassing for the DMK's candidate, advocate S. Sukanya. The police allege that Udhayanidhi made a minor boy climb onto the campaign van and address the crowd. While speaking, the boy made remarks against Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, saying "Om Kali.. Bhadra Kali..." — words the police say were intended to insult the Chief Minister. The case rests on the Election Commission of India's standing instructions, which strictly prohibit involving children in any election-related activity. The Model Code of Conduct is in force in the Dharapuram Assembly constituency, where the bypoll is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, with counting on October 9. What the police did not say is as notable as what they did. The press release did not specify the legal provisions under which Udhayanidhi was booked. It did not reproduce the child's remarks beyond the fragment quoted, did not identify the child or state the child's age, did not explain how the child came to be on the van, and did not disclose whether the action followed a complaint — or from whom. Police confirmed only that an investigation is underway. Udhayanidhi, who campaigned for the second time in Dharapuram's Nochipalayam area, told the rally that although voters did not give the DMK victory in the last election, the party had represented the constituency in the Assembly from 2021 to 2026. The Dharapuram contest is among the most bitterly fought bypolls in recent Tamil Nadu memory. The seat fell vacant after AIADMK MLA P. Sathyabama resigned in May 2026, just days after winning it on an AIADMK ticket in the Assembly elections, and joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. She now contests as the TVK candidate against the DMK's Sukanya, the AIADMK's K. Bhanumathi, the CPI's P. Lakshmanan and the NTK's M. Karthika in a five-cornered fight in the Scheduled Caste-reserved Tiruppur constituency. With campaigning ending Sunday evening, both sides have traded complaints to the Election Commission. Whether the case against the DMK's star campaigner is a straightforward enforcement of the model code or the state machinery leaning into the contest, Dharapuram's voters will deliver their verdict on Tuesday.