MK Stalin stood before the crowd at Kalaignar Arangam and turned the spotlight directly on Chief Minister Joseph Vijay's recent foreign trip. The DMK president didn't mince words. “CM Sir, why did you go to London? What investments have you brought to Tamil Nadu?” he demanded. The jab was precise. Stalin highlighted that the agreements signed during the trip involved Indian companies, questioning the logic of traveling abroad for domestic partnerships.
The attack extended beyond diplomacy. Stalin accused the TVK government of presiding over a state in crisis. He pointed to frequent power cuts, soaring prices, and a surge in violent crime. “The main competition in Tamil Nadu is between power cuts and sickle attacks,” he told the gathering. He alleged that members of the ruling party were being arrested for illegal drug sales and that murders were becoming so frequent that counting them was a daily struggle.
Stalin also mocked Vijay’s public persona, noting that despite claims of retiring from films, the CM continued to perform for the public. “Earlier there was local shooting; now there is foreign shooting,” he quipped. He further criticized the functioning of the state Assembly, describing it as disrupted by a “reels craze” where the CM’s image was displayed on screens, distracting from legislative work.
The political war intensified as Stalin addressed the upcoming by-election. He labeled it a “forced by-election,” alleging that a resignation was filed immediately after voters cast their ballots, effectively nullifying the original choice. He claimed democracy was being undermined by this maneuvering and that the seat was now being contested under a different symbol.
Stalin referred to his own past, including MISA arrests, stating that no one needed to validate his sacrifices. He noted that late DMK leader Chitti Babu had documented those arrests. “No one has the qualification to give marks for my sacrifice,” he said. He warned that those who questioned the government’s unfulfilled promises were facing defamatory campaigns and suggested the ruling party should rename itself “Reels Kazhagam” instead of “Victory Kazhagam.”