States » SouthPosted at: Oct 1 2026 5:39PM


Cash for votes’ charge comes to haunt ‘Clean force’ TVK as Left joins the oppn chorus

MC Rajan
Chennai, Oct 1 (UNI) ‘Cash for votes’ charge has come to haunt the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which prides itself as a ‘clean force’.
The allegation is being raised in the bypoll for two assembly constituencies not only by the opposition DMK and AIADMK but also by the two Left parties, which extend crucial outside support to the minority Vijay government.
Allegations are flying thick and fast since the October 6 bypoll for Madurantakam and Dharapuram is seen as a barometer of the five-month-old government's performance and Vijay's charisma. Despite supporting the government, the CPI and CPI(M) have entered the fray, maintaining that they are neither part of the TVK-led alliance nor of the opposition DMK-led combine. They are contesting one seat each
saying this bypoll was neither a general election nor for a regime change.
“While Chief Minister Vijay maintains that the TVK is a force of purity and won’t indulge in bribing voters with cash, it is the TVK which is the highest bidder by paying more. People in Madurantakam are saying this,” CPI(M) state secretary P.Shanmugam told reporters on Thursday, after leading a demonstration in Chennai seeking the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, who is facing ‘vote chori’ charges.
“Yesterday, we were distributing pamphlets in Madurantakam, and people told us, ‘You are giving only notices, but everybody is giving money’. When asked who all are giving cash, they said, ‘The TVK is giving more than others. You too give us some’, Shanmugam said, and demanded that the TVK leadership should respond to this.
The AIADMK was the first to lodge a complaint against the TVK with Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik last week itself. Party leader IS Inbadurai, MP, filed the complaint urging the poll panel to deploy more forces to prevent the ruling party from bribing voters.
Turning the tables on the opposition, the TVK had also approached the CEO to stop the DMK from distributing cash to voters, citing the seizure of Rs 40 lakh from a DMK functionary’s residence in bypoll-bound Dharapuram.
Meanwhile, Vijay, who addressed a handful of rallies for the assembly election, is forced to sweat it out in the bypoll. Having addressed two campaign rallies – one each in Madurantakam and Dharapuram—he is visiting Madurantakam tomorrow with a roadshow at
39 places.
Keen on winning the two seats, the TVK had appointed poll in-charge ministers to coordinate the poll strategy and door-to-door canvassing.
The bypoll is necessitated by the resignation of AIADMK legislators, Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), within 20 days of their election, and their joining the TVK. Vijay has rewarded both with re-nomination, inviting the charge that the TVK is actively indulging in horse trading.
UNI MCR-GV 1735
Tags: #Cash for votes’ charge comes to haunt ‘Clean force’ TVK as Left joins the oppn chorus
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