TVK government would be a 'curse' for Tamil Nadu, says TTV Dhinakaran

TTV Dhinakaran has a weather forecast for Tamil Nadu, and it is not good. Addressing reporters in Dharapuram on Saturday, the AMMK general secretary declared that a TVK government under Chief Minister Vijay would be a "curse" for Tamil Nadu — "just as El Niño affects us," he said, "a TVK government under Chief Minister Vijay would be a curse for us." Dhinakaran's ire is pointed at the Dharapuram by-election, polling on October 6. He claimed the constituency has traditionally been an AIADMK stronghold, won by the party in the election held four months ago, and alleged the bypoll was necessitated by engineered resignations of elected representatives. He demanded strict Election Commission action against those who resign shortly after being elected. "The Chief Minister is responsible for this by-election," he alleged. The attack then turned personal and transactional. Dhinakaran accused Vijay of presenting himself as a "pure force" while lowering political standards through his statements and actions. He claimed there had been attempts to negotiate with an AMMK MLA, and alleged that Vijay had secured the support of around 25 AIADMK MLAs through promises — while AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, he said, had acted magnanimously. He mocked the chief minister's campaign style — the roadshows, the tractor-driving — and questioned the political credentials of present-day leaders, invoking the changemakers of 1967 and 1977 who, he said, were known to the people. The timing sharpens the blade. Two Assembly seats vote on October 6, with counting on October 9, and the campaign has already turned ugly — TVK has dragged DMK president M.K. Stalin to the Election Commission over alleged remarks about its woman candidate in this very constituency. Dhinakaran's "curse" is rhetoric. But the charge underneath it — that mandates are being manufactured through resignations and inducements rather than won at the ballot box — is the one Tamil Nadu's voters should be listening for.