Udhayanidhi Stalin booked for involving minor in Dharapuram bypoll campaign

Dharapuram, Tiruppur district: On Sunday, Tiruppur district police registered a case against Tamil Nadu's Leader of the Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin, for allegedly involving a minor in election campaigning for the October 6 Dharapuram by-election. According to police, during a campaign meeting near the Periyar statue in Dharapuram town on Saturday, Udhayanidhi made a minor boy get onto a campaign van and made him speak. While speaking, the boy made remarks against Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, including the phrase "Om Kali Bhadra Kali". Police said this violates Election Commission guidelines, which strictly prohibit involving children in any election-related activity, and that the child was also made to speak in a manner insulting the Chief Minister. Udhayanidhi was campaigning in Dharapuram for the DMK's candidate, S. Suganya, the party's pick for the Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency. Addressing the rally, he said that although voters had not given the DMK victory in the last election, the party had represented the constituency in the Assembly from 2021 to 2026. The case is the latest flashpoint in an already volatile bypoll. It comes days after AIADMK cadres staged a sit-in outside the Dharapuram police station over the detention of the party's rural district secretary, Selvakumar, who was released after nearly five hours, and after DMK president M.K. Stalin's remarks against TVK candidate P. Sathyabama at a Dharapuram rally drew a complaint threat from the ruling TVK, which alleged derogatory comments against women. AIADMK has separately petitioned the Election Commission alleging cash distribution for TVK candidates in both bypoll seats. The bypolls in Dharapuram and Madurantakam were necessitated after the sitting AIADMK MLAs resigned in May and joined the TVK, and are being contested on October 6, with counting on October 9. With campaigning now closed, the police cases and counter-complaints are the talk of both constituencies as voters head to the booths on Monday.