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YouTuber Dhruv Rathee Spread Fake News – Uses Old Fire Accident Video To Frame BJP For Violence In WB

By
The Commune
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YouTuber Dhruv Rathee Spread Fake News - Uses Old Fire Accident Video To Frame BJP For Violence In WB

Yet again, YouTuber and propagandist Dhruv Rathee has come under fire for sharing an old video of violence in West Bengal and labelling the BJP as the perpetrators.

In the video he shares a clipping of violence and claimed that it was the BJP’s style of ‘celebrating’ with violence. Opening the video, he said, “Congratulations friends, good days have arrived in West Bengal”. 

However, what he will not tell you is that the video is from 26 April 2026 when Mamata Banerjee was very much in power. The video clipping was not even related to violence. It was a video of a fire incident in Metiabruz in South Kolkata near the rail line.

As Mamata Banerjee has lost the 2026 polls humiliatingly and the BJP set to form its first government in the state, propagandists have been activated. Dhruv Rathee sits at the top of that list and all he does is pick random videos that are unconnected to the topic he is going to discuss and frame the BJP, Hindus as the perpetrator, every single time.

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TVK Mylapore MLA-Elect Venkatraman Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Wife’s Harassment Complaint Resurfaces

By
The Commune
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TVK Mylapore MLA-Elect Venkatraman Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Wife’s Harassment Complaint Resurfaces

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Mylapore winning candidate and party state treasurer Venkatraman came under controversy after his wife Meenakshi filed a harassment complaint against him at the Chennai Police Commissioner’s office back in April 2026, as reported in Tamil Times Now.

Venkatraman contested from the Mylapore Assembly constituency in Chennai on behalf of TVK in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The complaint filed by his wife became viral now that TVK is in the news after they came out as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu following the polls.

According to the complaint submitted by Meenakshi, she married Venkatraman, son of Padmanaban from the Pammal area of Chennai, on 19 February 2012. The couple later had a daughter in 2016. However, marital disputes reportedly emerged between them, following which they began living separately.

Meenakshi stated in her petition that a divorce case had earlier been filed before the Family Welfare Court. However, according to her, the court declined to grant divorce and instead directed both of them to continue living together.

Despite the court’s direction, Meenakshi alleged that Venkatraman was not living with her and had continued to stay separately. She further accused him of forcibly separating their daughter from her custody and preventing her from meeting the child.

In the complaint, Meenakshi alleged that her daughter was being kept under Venkatraman’s custody without being shown to her and accused him of threatening and misleading her regarding access to the child. She requested the police to rescue the child from his custody and take appropriate action against him.

Police officials reportedly acknowledged the complaint and directed that appropriate action be initiated based on the petition.

After submitting the complaint at the Commissioner’s office, Meenakshi also spoke to media persons regarding the allegations made against her husband.

The controversy has gained attention once again because the complaint surfaced during the Assembly election campaign, with TVK being the centre of attention in the news now and public scrutiny of TVK MLAs is increasing.

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US Missionary Jesus Anoints Ministry Calls Joseph Vijay’s Rise A ‘Prophecy’, Frames Vijay’s Political Ascent As God’s Plan

By
The Commune
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A US-based Christian missionary ministry page has openly rooted for Vijay and framed his political rise in spiritual terms. Search results show that Jesus Anoints Ministries, a Jackson, Missouri-based Christian ministry associated with evangelist Samuel Meesala, posted a video titled “Prophecy: A Young Leader Vijay (TVK) Rising in Tamil Nadu,” using hashtags such as #Prophecy and #GodIsRaisingLeaders.

What makes this significant is that the ministry page appears to mirror Vijay’s own biblical messaging. In December 2025, Vijay publicly invoked the story of Joseph at a Christmas gathering, presenting it as a story of betrayal, endurance, and eventual rise to leadership; now, a missionary-style Christian ministry page in the US is retelling that same frame and recasting it as prophecy.

This therefore does not look random. By describing Vijay’s rise as a “prophecy” and packaging it in Christian revivalist language, the page appears to be rooting for him not merely as a politician but as a Christian figure whose ascent carries spiritual significance – or in other words, a symbol of hope for missionaries to ‘reach the unreached’ a lot easier than before.

This comes in the backdrop of several pastors from Andhra Pradesh reaching Chennai to pray for Vijay and support him and he himself kneeling and praying at a church during the election campaign.

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Joseph Vijay Projects TVK As ‘Thooya Sakthi’ But Reportedly Indulged In Horse-Trading AMMK MLA

By
The Commune
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vijay tvk

Vijay entered politics claiming that TVK would be a “thooyasakthi,” a pure force that would stand apart from the corruption, manipulation, and transactional culture of Dravidian power politics. That moral positioning was not a side message; it was central to the way Vijay sold TVK to the public as the only ethical alternative.

But the current government-formation controversy has made even the supporters think whether their choice was right, whether TVK was indeed a thooyasakthi. AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran has accused TVK of trying to secure the support of AMMK’s lone MLA-elect, S. Kamaraj, through horse-trading, and has further alleged that the support letter shown in Kamaraj’s name was either forged or procured through illegitimate means.

Dhinakaran did more than issue a political complaint. He rushed to the Governor, submitted a separate signed letter backing an AIADMK-led government under Edappadi K. Palaniswami, and publicly called the TVK episode “a mockery of democracy,” thereby converting a numbers battle into a question of constitutional propriety.

Then came the most politically damaging twist: TVK itself released a video claiming that Kamaraj had voluntarily extended support. TVK intended that footage as a defence against the forgery allegation, but the same video can also be read in a very different way, as evidence that TVK had managed to obtain the backing of an elected MLA from another party without the clear knowledge, control, or consent of that party’s leadership.

If the support of an MLA from another party was obtained in contested and opaque circumstances during an active government-formation struggle, the Governor is not obliged to treat it as routine political paperwork; he can view the material placed before him, including the video released by TVK’s own side, as raising serious questions about poaching, inducement, and possible horse-trading.

In fact, TVK may have unintentionally deepened the suspicion around itself. A video meant to rebut Dhinakaran’s charge also serves to establish that direct contact took place with AMMK’s lone MLA at the very moment when party chief Dhinakaran was saying he was unable to reach him and was shocked to see support being claimed for Vijay.

This is the political irony Vijay cannot easily escape. A party that branded itself as morally superior is now caught in with allegations of horse-trading, the possible crossing over of an elected representative outside the visible authority of his own party leadership.

TVK may have thought it was releasing a defence, but politically it released an exhibit. By publishing video of Kamaraj reportedly extending support while AMMK leadership was denying any such authorised move, Vijay’s party may have handed the Governor a ready-made basis to suspect poaching, question the legitimacy of the claim, and consider whether a deeper inquiry into alleged horse-trading is warranted. Thus, with each day, TVK keeps falling to new lows with regard to its claims of being a ‘thooyasakthi’.

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‘Thooya Sakthi’ TVK: Joseph Vijay Takes ‘Jana Nayagan’ Producer And Andhra Businessman For Meeting With Governor On Govt Formation

By
The Commune
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Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Joseph Vijay’s visit to Lok Bhavan to meet the Governor on 8 May 2026 has sparked a political debate after filmmaker K. Venkata Narayana and businessman Vishnu Reddy were seen in the high-profile meeting linked to government-formation discussions. Their presence has drawn scrutiny because neither man is publicly known to hold any formal party post in TVK, yet both appear to enjoy unusual access to Vijay during politically sensitive moments.

The two men are not anonymous faces. K. Venkata Narayana is the chairman of KVN Group and founder of KVN Productions, the banner producing Vijay’s upcoming film Jana Nayagan. KVN’s own company profile says Narayana previously served as CEO of Prestige Group and later expanded into film production, financing, and distribution, making him a major business associate of Vijay through cinema rather than through party organisation.

Some say he is a real estate billionaire himself apart from being a producer.

Vishnu Reddy is more opaque, but available records indicate he is an Andhra-linked businessman with granite-related business traces and company links in Chennai and Bengaluru. Public business-record aggregators identify a Vishnu Reddy Yerradoddi connected to firms including Indo Rocks LLP and Mytri Housing LLP, while GST data for M/S Vishnu Granites in Chittoor also lists the same name.

The mystery around Reddy deepened after a passenger manifest image linked to Vijay’s 29 April 2026 Chennai-to-Shirdi trip surfaced online. The document lists C. Joseph Vijay, P. Jagadish, C. Rajendran, and Vishnu Reddy Yerradoddi on the same flight, suggesting that Reddy is not a distant acquaintance but someone with access to Vijay’s immediate travel circle.

That is why the Lok Bhavan optics have become politically awkward for TVK. Observers have openly asked why a film producer and a businessman with no declared party responsibility should be present around a meeting tied to government formation, alliance arithmetic, and constitutional process. So far, there is no official confirmation that either Narayana or Reddy holds a formal position in TVK. A report in Times of India suggests that on 7 May 2026, TVK General Secretary Bussy Anand and “Vijay’s friend Vishnu Reddy met Velumani and held discussions with him for about an hour”. So, the duo has possibly been involved in the political discussions.

One can possibly explain that both men belong to Vijay’s personal circle rather than the party’s organisational chain and hence are involved. But that defence itself raises another question: if the occasion was political and constitutional, why should unelected private associates be visible anywhere near the process?

The political problem for TVK is not that Vijay has friends in business or cinema; every major leader does. The problem is the absence of transparency. When businessmen and producers appear beside a party chief at a moment tied to government formation, the public is entitled to ask whether formal politics is being mediated by an informal private network with influence but no accountability.

Tamil Nadu voters may well ask a blunt question: if two businessmen with no declared TVK role, no public electoral accountability, and no visible grounding in Tamil Nadu’s party structure are standing beside Vijay at critical moments, who exactly will shape access to power tomorrow? Narayana’s Bengaluru corporate profile and Vishnu Reddy’s Andhra-linked business background only deepen that unease. In a state fiercely protective of political self-respect and regional agency, even the appearance of unelected outside influence can become combustible.

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How TTV Dhinakaran Outsmarted Joseph Vijay

By
The Commune
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how ttv dinakaran dhinakaran outsmarted tvk vijay

Five days after emerging as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu with 108 seats, Vijay’s TVK still remains unable to form the government, exposing the gap between electoral momentum and actual legislative majority. The Election Commission’s results show that TVK fell short of the 118-seat mark needed in the 234-member Assembly, and the Governor’s office has made it clear that Vijay has not yet established the numbers required to be invited to take oath.

What was projected as a historic breakthrough has now turned into a test of political management, alliance-building, and constitutional credibility. Despite repeated visits to Governor Rajendra Arlekar and efforts to gather outside support, TVK has so far failed to convert its status as the largest party into a viable claim to power, leaving Tamil Nadu in an extended post-result suspense.

In this melee, as the numbers game started turning murky, AMMK MLA-elect S. Kamaraj briefly became unreachable. Sensing the situation could spiral, TTV Dhinakaran moved quickly – his next set of moves prove why a newbie politician is no match for a seasoned politician like TTV Dhinakaran, despite Vijay having a propaganda machinery backing him.

As soon as the news of Kamaraj came to be known, TTV Dhinakaran went straight to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, and alleged that TVK was trying to manufacture support through either horse-trading or forgery.

That first move mattered because it changed the frame of the story. Instead of allowing Vijay’s camp to present the support claim as a fait accompli, Dhinakaran forced the issue into a legitimacy battle, asking the Governor to investigate whether the letter in Kamaraj’s name was genuine at all.

The second move was even more decisive. Dhinakaran submitted a signed letter from Kamaraj backing an AIADMK-led government under Edappadi K. Palaniswami, making AMMK’s official line unambiguous and shutting down the impression that his party had shifted toward TVK.

Then came the public offensive. Dhinakaran called the episode “a mockery of democracy” and said either horse-trading had taken place or a forged letter had been used, directly attacking the moral basis of Vijay’s attempt to gather support for government formation.

This is where Dhinakaran’s political instinct showed. He did not merely deny TVK’s claim; he escalated it into a question of constitutional credibility, making it harder for the Governor to accept any disputed support at face value while the numbers remained unstable.

The turning point came when TVK pushed back and released a video that it said showed Kamaraj voluntarily writing a support letter for Vijay’s party. TVK presented that footage as proof against Dhinakaran’s forgery claim, but politically it also confirmed that a direct poaching battle over AMMK’s lone MLA had in fact taken place.

That is why Dhinakaran’s counterattack landed so hard. By the time the video surfaced, he had already met the Governor, placed AMMK’s official support on record for EPS, appeared before the media with Kamaraj, and announced plans for a police complaint, leaving Vijay’s camp to fight on terrain Dhinakaran had already defined.

In raw political terms, Dhinakaran outplayed Vijay on speed, clarity, and optics. Vijay’s camp may have tried to show momentum, but Dhinakaran used timing and institutional escalation to make TVK’s move look desperate, controversial, and tainted by allegations of illegitimacy.

The immediate outcome was that TVK’s path to forming the government remained blocked, with the majority question unresolved and no swearing-in taking place on schedule. In that sense, Dhinakaran did not just defend one MLA; he disrupted Vijay’s narrative of inevitability at the most crucial moment.

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Beaten At The Polls, NTK Candidates To Plant One Sapling Per Vote Received In 11 Constituencies In Salem

By
The Commune
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The Naam Tamilar Katchi seems to be the party in Tamil Nadu whose voteshare greatly reduced in the recent election, thanks to TVK and Vijay. But even after failing to secure a single victory in any of the 11 Assembly constituencies in Salem district and losing deposits across all seats, several Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) candidates have launched an environmental initiative by deciding to plant saplings corresponding to the number of votes they received in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, as reported in The New Indian Express.

The move has been presented by party candidates as an attempt to remain connected with the public while also contributing to environmental protection and nature conservation.

NTK had contested in all 11 constituencies in Salem district but failed to win any seat. Collectively, the party secured 77,596 votes across the district. Among the candidates, Edappadi constituency candidate A Priyadharshini secured the highest number of votes for the party in Salem with 8,450 votes.

Following the election results, Salem North candidate M Gunaseela, Salem West candidate R Sureshkumar and Edappadi candidate A Priyadharshini decided to undertake plantation drives matching the exact number of votes polled in their respective constituencies. Gunaseela secured 6,450 votes in Salem North, while Sureshkumar received 6,820 votes in Salem West.

Party sources stated that the initiative undertaken by the three candidates had also inspired a few other NTK candidates in Salem district to consider carrying out similar plantation drives in their own constituencies.

Speaking about the initiative, Priyadharshini said the party fully accepted the people’s electoral verdict but did not believe political engagement with the constituency should end after elections. She stated that environmental protection and creating awareness about nature conservation had always been among the party’s key ideological positions and described the plantation drive as an opportunity to give back both to the people and to the environment.

She further stated that she planned to plant 8,450 saplings matching the number of votes she received and intended to personally ensure their maintenance. According to her, party cadres and volunteers would participate in the plantation drive in and around Edappadi, adding that the initiative was meant to benefit all residents of the constituency, irrespective of whether they had voted for the party.

Salem North candidate Gunaseela said the election campaign had given her direct exposure to the difficulties faced by residents in several parts of the constituency. She stated that she had campaigned continuously for around 96 days through extensive door-to-door outreach and had encountered areas where even basic civic facilities remained inadequate. She also noted that many women had raised longstanding grievances and unresolved local issues during the campaign period. Gunaseela said the plantation initiative in her constituency would focus on areas surrounding Mookaneri Lake.

Meanwhile, Salem West candidate Sureshkumar stated that although the party had expected a stronger vote share, the election outcome would not distance its candidates from the public. He said the party intended to continue working among the people and maintained that addressing public needs should not be seen as the responsibility of elected MLAs and MPs alone, adding that political workers could continue contributing to society in other meaningful ways as well.

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Andhra Pastors Arrive In Chennai To Show Support & Pray For Joseph Vijay Following Surprise Show In TN Polls

By
The Commune
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Andhra Pastors Arrive In Chennai To Show Support & Pray For Joseph Vijay Following Surprise Show In TN Polls

Just as Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief tries to find the numbers to stake claim to form a government in Tamil Nadu, support from Christian quarters are growing louder by the day.

A video now circulating online has added to the growing discussion around his visible religious positioning in Tamil Nadu politics. In the clip, a speaker says a group of 12 pastors from West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh travelled to meet Vijay, offer their wishes, and pray for him. This suggests that support for the TVK leader is not confined to ordinary party workers but is also drawing organised attention from Christian clergy outside Tamil Nadu.

This comes weeks after Vijay drew attention for a widely shared appearance at St. Anthony’s Church in Trichy in April 2026. Viral footage from the visit showed Vijay praying at the church and walking on his knees, a gesture that generated significant online debate ahead of the Assembly election campaign. The church visit triggered mixed political reactions at the time. Supporters viewed it as a personal act of devotion, while it was also under scrutiny for the public nature and timing of the gesture, especially during an election season.

This only seems to drive the point that Vijay and his TVK are a Christutva project of the church and they seem to have succeeded in their attempt at power. In a matter of a few days, the state will see its first Christian CM and one has to wait and watch if this will lead to sprouting of churches and missionary activity across the state.

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Thank You Vijay For Putting An End To Poisonous Politics Of DMK

By
The Commune
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Vijay TVK First State Conference

On 4 May 2026, Tamil Nadu spoke. They knew who they did not want to see in power, the DMK. And they spoke decisively.

It was loud and clear, that five years of arrogance, hatred, corruption, and intimidation have a price. We all saw it on counting/results day.

This is not merely a political win for Vijay. This is a collective exhale from a state that was slowly being suffocated.

Dynastic Politics

It is a well-known fact that the Karunanidhi family – he himself, his son, MK Stalin, the grandson Udhayanidhi Stalin, his daughter Kanimozhi and all the nephews and nieces are the ones controlling power and repeatedly get to sit in the corridors of power. After becoming Chief Minister, within a short time, MK Stalin made Udhayanidhi Stalin, a film producer with zero administrative experience, as Deputy Chief Minister. Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan reportedly ran shadow networks of influence across state machinery. The party that once championed EVR’s egalitarianism had quietly become a royal court, with the Stalin family at its throne. Tamil Nadu was being handed to the inheritors of Karunanidhi.

This was not just limited to the top family, this exact same scenario was replicated with ministers, their sons/family members, other party post holders as well.

505 Promises, Endless Excuses

The DMK marched into the 2021 election with 505 promises in their manifesto. Five years later hardly a couple of 100 promises were fulfilled. Women’s safety was nowhere to be seen. All their promises on TASMAC regulation went bust. Law and order at its absolute worst. Drugs and ganja became even easily available than any other state, any other government – TN topped the drugs list. To shut the people up, they came up with a welfare scheme for women but limited the number of recipients after promising it for every woman in the state.

Hate Speech Dressed as Ideology

This is where the DMK’s poison was the most toxic.

In September 2023, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin stood at a public stage and declared that Sanatana Dharma should be “eradicated” the way one eradicates dengue and malaria. The Supreme Court of India criticised him, holding that he had abused his constitutional right to free speech. The Madras High Court went further, ruling in January 2026 that his remarks constituted hate speech, and that the phrase “Sanatana Ozhippu” implied nothing short of culturicide.

They still continue making such statements and hurting sentiments of crores of Hindus.

This was not an isolated moment of poor judgment. It was policy. DMK’s official social media handles routinely run anti-Brahmin cartoons. Senior party leaders openly made casteist remarks targeting Brahmin communities at public forums.

DMK leaders stated that learning Hindi would “make us shudras, slaves”, weaponising caste language against an entire linguistic community. DMK and its allies compared Lord Rama to a perpetrator of honour killing.

For five years, Hindus, Brahmins, and Hindi speakers in the state and outside were open targets – mocked, slandered, and threatened by ministers and party leaders who faced zero accountability. This was Dravidian politics, hatred with a government stamp on it.

Corruption Without Consequence

Right from the times of Karunanidhi who was known for his scientific corruption till the ministers, MLAs, councillors and DMK members in any official post, corruption runs deep in their arteris and veins. It is a part of their DNA.

2G scam that rocked the nation – DMK was involved

Illegal mining and sand smuggling – DMK ministers are named

Cash for jobs scam – DMK ministers/MLAs are involved

Loot through TASMAC – DMK members involved

Toilet scam, textile scam – you name it, it will have a DMK link somewhere or the other.

Once these scams are out, and then what? Nothing, zilch, nada.

Dissent? Expect a Midnight Knock

The DMK and its coterie ensured the police also was part of this team – they did not just ignore criticism. They would hound dissenters and critics for it.

Independent Tamil YouTubers, journalists who spoke about government corruption or their failures had their homes raided, taken away at odd times, some even had their equipment seized, family harassed. They had false cases hoisted on them – some even landed Goondas Act. Social media users, ordinary citizens, were arrested for posts that mocked Stalin or Udhayanidhi or anyone in the DMK and their family, under provisions so broadly applied they amounted to a digital sedition law. Political opponents were buried under FIRs and notices – not to seek justice, but to exhaust, intimidate, and silence.

The message the DMK sent to every critic for five years was simple and unambiguous: speak, and the state will come for you.

The Fall They Earned

And so, the DMK government fell – one by one, constituency by constituency, in ways that felt less like election results and more like long-overdue verdicts.

MK Stalin, who had won Kolathur three consecutive times, lost to TVK’s VS Babu by 8,795 votes. After nine assembly contests, the Chief Minister tasted defeat in his own backyard. PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan, who never missed a chance to lecture Tamil Nadu, lost Madurai Central by 19,128 votes. Health Minister Ma. Subramanian was routed in Saidapet by 28,514 votes. S. M. Nasar lost Avadi by a staggering 74,829 votes. And K. R. Periyakaruppan lost Tiruppattur by exactly one vote – democracy’s most precise and poetic rebuke.

DMK lost and it was cathartic to watch several sitting MLAs and ministers trail all day and lose.

Tamil Nadu knew who it did not want – they did not want the DMK back in power. And the results speak for itself.

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How DMK IT Wing, PEN Intimidated Tamil Nadu Media – Journalists Speak Out

By
The Commune
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DMK’s Digital Empire Cracks: PEN, Operated By MK Stalin's Son-In-Law Sabareesan, Reportedly Scaling Down After Crushing Election Defeat

The defeat of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in the recently concluded TN polls has triggered an extraordinary outpouring from journalists and political commentators, many of whom are now openly accusing the regime’s media machinery of running a coordinated intimidation ecosystem for the past five years.

At the centre of the allegations is PEN, said to be controlled by V Sabareesan, son-in-law of MK Stalin along with the DMK’s IT wing leadership under PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and later TRB Rajaa.

For years, the DMK projected itself as a “pro-people” government through aggressive public relations campaigns, carefully staged optics, and tightly controlled media management. But behind that image, journalists allege, operated a shadow ecosystem of online abuse, newsroom pressure, surveillance, and intimidation designed to silence criticism and enforce narrative discipline.

According to multiple journalists and commentators, PEN functioned less like a media platform and more like a political enforcement network. The method, they allege, was simple: if a journalist posted criticism of the government or questioned official narratives online, PEN-linked operatives would take screenshots and send them directly to editors, newsroom managements, or employers in an attempt to pressure, isolate, or discipline the individual.

The allegations burst into public view after Puthiya Thalaimurai Chief of Bureau, Stalin SP posted on X following the election defeat of the DMK: “Hereafter I can tweet whatever I think. PEN can’t intimidate me by taking screenshots and sending them to my office.”

The post quickly went viral and was widely interpreted as confirmation of long-rumoured pressure tactics inside Tamil media circles.

Times of India journalist Omjasvin M.D. alleged that the “constant abuse and target of journalists writing critically against the govt” represented one of the “worst downgrades” of the DMK IT wing in recent years. He claimed that beyond routine trolling, dedicated online spaces had allegedly been created specifically to discuss, target, and tarnish journalists critical of the regime, and that many involved in those attacks operated with political backing from the party leadership.

Another journalist Vinodh Arulappan went further, alleging that “under PTR, abuse became organised,” and claiming that teams existed solely to target critics using slurs and threats. “Earlier they were loafers, now, under TRB Raja they become thugs,” he wrote in a viral post reacting to the election results.

Vinodh Arulappan was also abused by PTR during the campaign period.

Casteist abuse was also targeted at journalists from the Brahmin community. PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan was adept at it. A journalist reminded people of the abuse she received from him on X.

Journalist Sandhya Ravishankar was also abused, targeted and threatened by the same PTR.

The state’s Fact Checking Unit under former alleged fact-checker Iyan Karthikeyan also functioned as an unofficial censorship mechanism during the DMK’s tenure. According to several media insiders, access journalism, selective invitations, advertising pressure, and controlled information flows ensured that large sections of Tamil media remained dependent on the government’s goodwill. Stories embarrassing to the regime were buried, softened, or discouraged, while favourable coverage was amplified. So, what was shown to the public was a pretense that everything was rosy and shiny in Dravidian Model Tamil Nadu under the DMK.

The result was a media ecosystem where fear became institutionalised. Journalists who questioned the government risked online abuse, professional complaints, loss of access, coordinated smear campaigns, or pressure from management. Tamil Nadu’s media environment during the DMK’s rule was less an open press system and more a tightly supervised information order built around protecting the image of the ruling family and its political machinery.

With the DMK now removed from power after the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, journalists and commentators who remained silent for years are beginning to speak publicly. For many critics of the previous regime, the election result is not merely a political defeat for the DMK, but the collapse of what they describe as a carefully manufactured “photoshoot model, advertisement model government” sustained by intimidation, propaganda, and media control.

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