CHENNAI: Corruption, commission, collusion, and Karur gang. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay deployed everything in his armour to attack the three generations of the DMK leadership, from late patriarch M Karunanidhi, and his son and successor MK Stalin, to present Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, delivering on his promise of a performance which visibly enthralled his fans inside and outside the Assembly on Monday.
Having done his homework, the TVK chief first referred to the Sarkaria Commission report that raised the spectre of suspicion about the then DMK chief Karunanidhi, before deftly using the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) documents to train the fire on Stalin and Udhayanidhi.
Vijay cited an ED report on alleged collection of commissions ranging from 7.5% to 10% between 2021 and 2025 in the name of party funds by the Municipal Administration Department, and said the central agency named Stalin and Udhayanidhi, the then chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively, as the direct beneficiaries.
He then quickly moved on to everyone’s favourite punching bag, Tasmac. "The ED had alleged in its report that the then minister in charge of the [Prohibition and Excise] department misused his power," Vijay said.
The ED mentioned in its report that the Karur gang collected party funds from bar owners. We, and the people, are eager to know who the leader of the gang is– C Joseph Vijay, Chief Minister
A person named Rathish wielded powers to transfer all district revenue officers in Tasmac and the then MD of the corporation acted on his instructions, Vijay alleged, adding that after the TVK-led government came to power, Rathish fled to Dubai.
Similarly, he added, the ED report said the then minister V Senthilbalaji’s brother Ashokkumar was involved in fixing transport tenders in Tasmac. "The ED mentioned in its report that the Karur gang collected party funds from bar owners. We, and the people, are eager to know who the leader of the gang is," Vijay said, noting how the central agency has said that the gang was fleecing Rs 10-Rs 100 from customers in an organised manner.
Vijay vowed that the TVK-led government would demolish what he described as the DMK's "fake image".
Referring to the political legacy of three icons from South India – CN Annadurai, MG Ramachandran, and NT Ramarao – he said: “The next is me."
The fiery speech and the dramatic manner in which it was delivered did not, obviously, amuse the DMK members, who were on their feet but were largely drowned by the desk-breaking thumping by the ruling party MLAs.
When Speaker JCD Prabhakar refused to allow Udhayanidhi to respond to the allegations, the DMK members protested for nearly half an hour, repeatedly seeking an opportunity to give their explanation to the charges. Some of them even staged a sit-in before the Speaker's chair.
The proceedings threatened to reach a flash point when the Speaker directed the marshals to remove the DMK members. But, after both Leader of the House KA Sengottaiyan and Vijay appealed to the Speaker to allow the Opposition to respond, Prabhakar initially agreed to allow Udhayanidhi, only to rescind the decision. The DMK members, led by Udhayanidhi, subsequently walked out of the Assembly.