'A curse for Tamil Nadu': Dhinakaran's broadside puts Vijay's minority government on notice

AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Friday launched a sharp attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, declaring that a TVK government would be a "curse" for Tamil Nadu, as the opposition's criticism of the fledgling administration sharpens ahead of the October 6 Dharapuram byelection. Addressing reporters in Dharapuram, Tiruppur district, Dhinakaran reached for a weather metaphor: "Just as El Nino affects us, a TVK government under Chief Minister Vijay would be a curse for us." He claimed Dharapuram has traditionally been an AIADMK stronghold and alleged that the bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of elected representatives, demanding strict action by the Election Commission against those who resign shortly after being elected. "The Chief Minister is responsible for this by-election," Dhinakaran alleged. He accused Vijay of presenting himself as a "pure force" in politics and alleged that the Chief Minister was lowering political standards through his statements and actions. Referring to the political churn after the Assembly elections, Dhinakaran said he had visited the Governor's residence after receiving an invitation and claimed there had been attempts to negotiate with an AMMK MLA. He further alleged that Vijay had secured the support of around 25 AIADMK MLAs through promises, while AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami had acted magnanimously. Dhinakaran also targeted Vijay's campaign style, referring to the Chief Minister's recent roadshows and tractor-driving campaign, and questioned the political credentials of present-day leaders, contrasting them with the figures who brought political change to Tamil Nadu in 1967 and 1977. The Dharapuram contest, for which polling is on October 6 with counting on October 9, was necessitated after AIADMK MLA P. Sathyabama resigned in May 2026, just days after winning the seat on an AIADMK ticket in the Assembly elections. She subsequently joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and is now contesting as the TVK candidate. The constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes in Tiruppur district, is the first major electoral test for Vijay's TVK government, which does not hold an outright majority and needs to win both the Dharapuram and Madurantakam bypolls to strengthen its position. The DMK has fielded advocate S. Suganya, the AIADMK has fielded K. Bhanumathi, while the CPI's P. Lakshmanan and the NTK's M. Karthika are also in the fray. The campaign has already turned bitter. Vijay held a mega roadshow in Dharapuram in support of Sathyabama and, in a post on X, described the DMK as a "force of evil", alleging that M.K. Stalin had mocked Sathyabama's physical appearance at a campaign meeting and spoken about her indecently. Dhinakaran's intervention adds a third front of attack: not from the Dravidian majors, but from the AIADMK's estranged camp, which accuses the Chief Minister of manufacturing the very bypoll he now campaigns to win.