'Force of evil': Vijay's attack on Stalin escalates the Dharapuram remarks row

Chennai: The Dharapuram bypoll campaign entered its final day with the chief minister of Tamil Nadu calling the opposition "a force of evil". C. Joseph Vijay, the chief minister and founder of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, on Saturday launched his sharpest attack yet on DMK president M.K. Stalin, accusing him of mocking TVK's Dharapuram candidate P. Sathyabama at a campaign meeting on Friday. In a post on X, Vijay accused Stalin of deriving "sadistic pleasure by mocking the physical appearance and speaking with utmost indecency" about Sathyabama, a Scheduled Caste woman who won the seat on an AIADMK ticket in the 2026 Assembly election before resigning and joining the TVK. "Under the guise of a by-election campaign public meeting for the Dharapuram constituency, the DMK, a force of evil, through its leader Mr M.K. Stalin, has conducted a meeting full of slander and indecency," he wrote. Reports from the Friday meeting, where Stalin campaigned for DMK candidate S. Suganya, said he had referred to Sathyabama as "Petti Bama" and "Palti Bama" while questioning her switch from the AIADMK to the TVK. TVK leaders allege the remarks amount to body-shaming. No full transcript of Stalin's remarks has been published, and the DMK has not yet responded to the charges. Vijay went further, claiming the episode reflected a pattern. "The people of Tamil Nadu have long realised that the DMK members are enemies of democracy, and that obscenity, malice, and perversion are deeply ingrained in their very DNA and mindset," he said, adding that voters would answer through the ballot. The escalation comes days after two TVK ministers, K.A. Sengottaiyan and Arun Raj, demanded an apology from Stalin, and a day after TVK minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar announced the party would file a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India over the remarks, which the TVK says also include derogatory language by Udhayanidhi Stalin. The row is only one front in the battle. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has accused Vijay of poaching the very MLAs whose resignations triggered the bypolls. "They voted for the AIADMK's two-leaf symbol and elected her. Vijay has stolen our MLA," Palaniswami said, attacking the ruling party over the defections. The AIADMK has fielded K. Bhanumathi against Sathyabama in Dharapuram. Vijay is expected back on the trail on Sunday, travelling through Coimbatore to Dharapuram for a final round of campaigning. Police plan to deploy around 2,000 personnel along his route through Chitra, Kamarajapuram, Singanallur and Ondipudur, expecting large crowds on a holiday. Earlier, on September 30, the chief minister drew a large gathering at a 54-acre ground in Kondarasampalayam, where entry was controlled by QR-code passes and more than ten LED screens, and appealed to voters to regard him as "their son" and a member of their family. Campaigning for the October 6 bypolls — in Dharapuram and Madurantakam — ends on Sunday evening. Votes will be counted on October 9.