Insecure dummy CM orders daily arrests, says LoP Udhayanidhi Stalin

CHENNAI: Leader of the Opposition and DMK Youth Wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday termed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay a "dummy CM" and accused the TVK government of running a "fascist" administration driven by arrests, while mocking its ministers as "jokers" and alleging that it had done little more than rename DMK schemes.

Addressing a meeting of DMK lawyers from northern districts at Kalaignar Arangam in Anna Arivalayam, Udhayanidhi said the government had become so insecure that people were being arrested for "standing, walking, speaking or posting on social media."

"After waking up, the government appears to have a schedule to decide whom to arrest that day," he said.

Recalling the police action against him over his speech at a farmers' protest in Thanjavur, Udhayanidhi said he initially thought he was being arrested for calling Vijay a "dummy CM", in addition to describing the government as "shameless" and "bad". He said DMK lawyers immediately moved the Madras High Court and fought the case.

He credited the legal wing with securing relief for him and recalled its role in the 2018 legal battle that secured permission for former chief minister M Karunanidhi's burial at Marina.

Taking a swipe at the government, Udhayanidhi said, "In a pack of cards, there may be one or two jokers. Here, all 52 are jokers." He alleged that people did not know who the ministers or MLAs were and said even the "dummy CM" did not know his ministers.

Udhayanidhi also alleged that the TVK government had merely renamed schemes introduced by the previous DMK government. "They came saying they would bring change and a clean, corruption-free government. What have they done? They have changed the names of every scheme brought by our leader. There is no other change. They have put stickers on everything," he said.

Udhayanidhi said Gen-Z activists of the DMK were increasingly being targeted because the government feared their growing political involvement. He named Anbanandam, Vinoth Suryakumar and Saran among those arrested and said DMK lawyers had helped secure their release. He urged lawyers to provide legal protection to party workers facing what he described as false cases and to pursue cases against ruling party functionaries accused of wrongdoing.

Referring to the death of college student Amudhan in Coimbatore, Udhayanidhi alleged that the student had provided information to the police about drug peddling before being attacked and killed by a group of around 20 people. He said the DMK would support the student's family in its demand for justice.

"We will take care of it in the Assembly, and you take care of it in the courts," he told the lawyers.

DMK legal wing secretary NR Elango alleged that the police had adopted an authoritarian approach and urged lawyers to proactively initiate legal measures. RS Bharathi, Rajya Sabha MPs P Wilson and R Girirajan and other senior lawyers attended the meeting.