Eve of polling: Vijay warns Stalin over remarks about Sathyabama as campaign turns personal

DHARAPURAM, Oct 4 — On the final day of campaigning for the October 6 bypoll, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay turned a Dharapuram roadshow into a direct warning aimed at DMK president M.K. Stalin, accusing him of making objectionable remarks about the TVK's candidate P. Sathyabama. TVK leaders described Stalin's comments, made during his Saturday campaign visit in support of the DMK's S. Sukanya, as body-shaming and inappropriate for political campaigning. Addressing voters, Vijay said he was prepared to face criticism directed at him but would not remain silent if women from his family, party or society were targeted. "Political leaders are free to criticise me, my policies or my party," Vijay said, "but personal remarks involving women cross a line." He urged voters to judge the language used by political leaders and argued that election campaigns should focus on public issues rather than personal attacks. Vijay also invoked former chief minister and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran while speaking about his political approach and warning opponents against personal attacks, and accused other DMK leaders of using similar language during political campaigns. The controversy has emerged as a major talking point in the final days of campaigning in Dharapuram, one of two reserved constituencies voting on October 6 alongside Madurantakam. The bypoll was triggered when Sathyabama, elected on an AIADMK ticket in the April general election, resigned within weeks and joined the ruling TVK, which has renominated her on its whistle symbol. She faces a five-cornered contest against the DMK's Sukanya, the AIADMK's Banumathi, the NTK's Karthika and the CPI's Lakshmanan, among 22 candidates in all. What went unsaid on the final day was as notable as what was said. An AIADMK petition alleging systematic cash distribution by TVK workers in both constituencies, filed with the Chief Election Commissioner and the state chief electoral officer, remains unanswered days before polling. The NTK's Karthika has separately alleged that TVK workers handed voters tiffin boxes, Rs 6,000 in cash and silver coins, and complained that the returning officer was unresponsive. None of these allegations has produced a published finding. Stalin's camp had not publicly responded to Vijay's charge at the time of writing. The DMK has framed the bypoll as a referendum on a government it says manufactured the election by poaching the very MLAs whose resignations created the vacancies. Polling begins on Tuesday morning. Counting is on October 9.