Chennai: DMK president M K Stalin has criticised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, accusing him of "political hypocrisy and administrative failure".
In a detailed social media post late Friday, Stalin responded to Vijay's campaign speech in Madurantakam ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypoll. He also questioned Vijay's description of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) as a "pure force" and the DMK as an "evil force".
Vijay reiterated during his campaign speech that the DMK was an "evil force", an accusation he has made since the run-up to the April Assembly election.
He also alleged collusion between the DMK, AIADMK and BJP, and claimed that the sensational POCSO case involving Gem Granites chairman R Veeramani was "buried" by the previous DMK regime.
"CM Vijay, who has said that he has stopped acting in films, continues to act before the people. Today I saw your dialogue delivery at the Madurantakam shooting. I have a few questions for you," Stalin said in his post.
Stalin was referring to Vijay's remarks describing the DMK as an "evil force" and TVK as a "pure force".
He questioned the "pure force" description by pointing to TVK's induction of former AIADMK leaders, including Maragatham Kumaravel, whom the party has fielded as its candidate in the bypoll.
Stalin also accused Vijay of "surrendering" to the BJP instead of mounting a genuine opposition.
"How many times have you spoken against the BJP since forming the government? How many protests have you led? Was everything you did against the BJP merely a peaceful revolution or, in truth, a surrender?" Stalin asked.
He further alleged that TVK had actively sought legislators from the NDA coalition and questioned whether poaching AIADMK legislators even before the "indelible ink" applied during voting had faded from their fingernails could be described as a "pure force".
Turning to the state government's governance record, Stalin alleged that TVK's welfare initiatives were rebranded DMK schemes. He also criticised the government's handling of power outages, inflation, milk shortages and law and order issues.
On the allegations surrounding the Veeramani case, Stalin said he had already explained his position in detail and rejected Vijay's demand for another explanation.
Stalin also referred to the Madras High Court's observations against politicising the investigation. He questioned Vijay's decision to raise the sensitive case during an election campaign and called on him to conduct a "self-examination" and follow the political decorum expected of the state's highest elected office.
