Vijay started his speech around 9.33am, listing out measures taken by his govt to maintain law and order and ensure corruption-free governance.
CHENNAI: In his fiercest attack yet on DMK, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay brought up the half-century-old Sarkaria Commission report and a 2025 Enforcement Directorate letter in the assembly on Monday, projecting three generations — M Karunanidhi, M K Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin — besides former Union minister Murasoli Maran as corrupt leaders. “Wherever DMK is present, there would be corruption. Wherever there is corruption, DMK will be present,’’ said Vijay in his response to the demand for grants for home department. His charges triggered loud protests from DMK members who stormed the well of the House after speaker J C D Prabhakar denied opposition leader Udhayanidhi permission to respond. DMK MLAs later walked out. Vijay started his speech around 9.33am, listing out measures taken by his govt to maintain law and order and ensure corruption-free governance. The situation turned chaotic in 20 minutes when Vijay sharpened his attack on the previous DMK govt. Citing the 1976 Sarkaria Commission report, Vijay said there was an entire chapter dedicated to ‘Veeranam pipeline scam’ and mentioned the alleged corruption by Karunanidhi and Maran. “The report says they demanded 2.5% commission for the project,’’ Vijay said. He then turned to the more recent DMK regime. Reading out from a letter sent by Enforcement Directorate in Dec 2025, he said Stalin and Udhayanidhi were direct beneficiaries of party fund. “They dared me to open the three files on my table. Before opening them, let me show a sample,” he said, reading out portions of the ED and DVAC reports. He alleged that there was corruption under former ministers K N Nehru and V Senthilbalaji. “They wanted proof of corruption. Here it is,’’ Vijay said, displaying a copy of the ED letter. Targeting Udhayanidhi, Vijay asked “who is Ratheesh” and why was he “hiding” in Dubai ever since TVK came to power. The CM said many DMK leaders used offensive language. He invoked former AIADMK CMs M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa more than once to attack DMK. He also referred to Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao and positioned himself in the league of former chief ministers C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran and N T Rama Rao. “Anna in 1967, MGR in 1977, NTR in 1983 and Vijay in 2026,’’ he said. Protesting the CM’s remarks, Udhayanidhi and other DMK MLAs stood up. Udhayanidhi sought permission to respond to the charges levelled against him as Vijay continued with his speech. DMK MLAs displayed pamphlets related to alleged corruption and crimes involving TVK functionaries, and repeatedly demanded that the speaker allow Udhayanidhi to speak. With no response from the Speaker, DMK MLAs entered the well of the House. The Speaker questioned the MLAs for bringing posters and pamphlets into the House without his permission. “The intention of DMK members is to prevent the CM from delivering his reply,’’ the speaker said, adding that he would not bend to pressure from the opposition. After some time, however, he said the CM had suggested that he allow the opposition leader to speak, and that he would consider the request. On hearing this, DMK legislators returned to their seats. However, the speaker refused to allow Udhayanidhi to speak, prompting the DMK members to walkout in protest. Later, Vijay helped DMK MLA Durai Chandrasekar, who was in the well of the House, get up.
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