The campaigns for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are taking place at a frenzied pace. Madurai Central constituency which has DMK’s PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan and actor-director Sundar C contesting in the AIADMK’s symbol is grabbing everyone’s attention.
BJP leader Annamalai campaigned for Sundar C and exposed PTR massively for all the statements that he has been making against Sundar C.
BJP’s K. Annamalai levelled a pointed charge against DMK’s P. Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR): that the sitting MLA and minister has been using X (formerly Twitter) to identify, name, and publicly attack journalists who reported that a wave of change was building in the constituency.
“Yesterday, three journalists — our friends from the press — were on that app (X),” Annamalai said at a public rally. “They came, they observed the situation, and they affirmed: ‘Yes, a change is indeed coming to Madurai Central.’ Upon hearing this, he (PTR) began singling out journalists one by one on Twitter — grabbing hold of them and lashing out: ‘How dare you say that? You are a BJP broker! You have taken money from Brother A.C. Shanmugam! You have taken money from Modi! You are all nothing but brokers!'”
Annamalai said PTR had also been picking fights with actor-politician Khushbu Sundar, a BJP leader, on X since the morning of the rally. The charge reflects a broader pattern: PTR, known for his combative social media presence, has attracted criticism for targeting members of the press when coverage is unfavourable. PTR’s own X account bio notes that critics accuse DMK of continuing “to threaten and intimidate the fourth pillar” – a reference to independent media.
Annamalai contrasted PTR’s social media aggression with what he said should be basic electoral duty. “Your job is to go door-to-door among the people, ask for their votes, and explain what developmental work you have accomplished,” he said. “Instead of doing that, he has made it his full-time occupation to sit on Twitter.” He drew a pointed parallel with Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, saying even Udhayanidhi only “checks Instagram until midnight” — but PTR is “constantly glued to Twitter, waiting to see who says what so he can retort.”
On X, over the past couple of days, PTR has been attacking a few journalists as below for pointing out facts and saying they were lying and were doing this because they received money from specific people. Here are those posts. He even went on to link a few journalists such as Sandhya Ravishankar and Vinodh Arulappan who were not even in touch with each other.
Till now, in politics, I have never addressed my comments at any individual contesting against me or our party in elections, be it 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 or 2024.
Our approach has always been clear: who we are, what we do, and why people should vote for us.
However, after the… pic.twitter.com/ipNjOgUnmQ
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 11, 2026
Vinodh Arulappan posted a video of how public were angry with him for not doing any work in Madurai as MLA.
Dear PTR,
As a journalist, I have been on the ground for four days in Madurai Central constituency and I am reflecting on what the people of your constituency are saying. I am not here to endorse any candidate contesting in Madurai Central. If people are satisfied with your… pic.twitter.com/6McsaGkXNm
— Vinodh Arulappan (@VinodhArulappan) April 11, 2026
PTR responded as below:
Stop playing the victim card. A few questions:
1) Is maintaining roads the responsibility of the State Government or the Local Body (Madurai Corporation)? I’ll make it easy for you, it is the Local Body (Madurai Corporation).
2) When Federalism is a core principle of our party,… https://t.co/3FYJXj9lP2
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 12, 2026
The broader context of the attack is PTR’s arrogance. Annamalai quoted PTR as responding to questions with “Do you even know who I am in Madurai? Do you know who my father is?”, and compared this attitude directly to what he characterised as the dynastic arrogance of the Stalin family, who he said respond to criticism with “I am the son of Muthuvel Karunanidhi.” “Just answer the question that was asked,” Annamalai demanded. “What have you done for Madurai in ten years as MLA?”
The BJP’s candidate against PTR is director-producer Sundar C, whose entry into Madurai Central has, according to Annamalai, rattled PTR enough to break his long-held public posture of refusing to name or acknowledge any opponent. “For the very first time, Mr. PTR, who has hitherto maintained this haughty posture, is now actively campaigning by explicitly naming Sundar C,” Annamalai noted. “That itself tells you how much Brother Sundar C has become your voice.”
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