The DMK government in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, 4 December 2025, filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court’s order quashing the prohibitory order issued by the Madurai District Collector in the Thirupparankundram region.

The Collector had invoked prohibitory measures after clashes reportedly broke out during the implementation of a High Court directive issued on Wednesday, which permitted devotees to visit the temple and light lamps at the Deepathoon (stone pillar).

Government sources told The New Indian Express that the State would seek an urgent hearing on Friday, 5 December 2025. However, according to the Supreme Court causelist available until 10:50 p.m. Thursday, the matter is not listed for Friday.

A lawyer associated with the case, who did not wish to be named, described the issue as “highly sensitive” and declined to share further details. The lawyer said, “Please wait until Friday at 10:30 a.m.”

Earlier on Thursday, Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench quashed the State government’s prohibitory order, holding that it had been issued solely to circumvent the implementation of the court’s directive. The Bench also directed the Madurai City Commissioner of Police to provide protection for devotees lighting lamps at the Deepathoon located on the lower hilltop.

The State has now approached the apex court seeking to challenge the 4 December 2025 judgment.

(Source: The New Indian Express)

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In an extraordinary and unprecedented judicial dressing-down, the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench has exposed the DMK government’s blatant contempt for the rule of law, constitutional propriety, and Hindu religious rights. Justice G.R. Swaminathan’s order reads like a charge-sheet against a State administration that deliberately chose confrontation over compliance, and political arrogance over constitutional duty.

The case revolved around a simple issue: allowing devotees to light the sacred Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon of Thirupparankundram Hill. On 01.12.2025, the Court had clearly and unequivocally allowed devotees to perform the ritual. Yet the DMK administration, instead of complying, went into sabotage mode.

Despite receiving a copy of the order “immediately” and despite the event being scheduled for 6 PM on 03.12.2025, the State machinery did nothing to honour the Court’s direction. As the judge observed, the authorities “remained inactive,” thereby defying the order of this Court

When devotees approached the Court stating the order was about to be breached, Justice Swaminathan noted that “it was obvious that contempt had been committed.” He reminded the DMK administration that neither rank nor position places anyone above the law. Citing the Supreme Court’s recent judgment, he reiterated that “Disobedience… attacks the very foundation of the rule of law… no one, howsoever high they may be, may think they are above the law.”

DMK Govt Tried To Sabotage Court Order 

After the Court permitted the petitioners to climb the hill with CISF protection to light the Deepam, what happened next is nothing short of a constitutional horror story.

When the devotees and CISF team reached the foothill, Madurai Police Commissioner J. Loganathan, IPS physically blocked them — openly declaring that he “was not in a position to respect the order of this Court” because of a prohibitory order issued by the District Collector a day earlier under Section 163 of BNSS.

This was not law enforcement.
This was law sabotage.

The Court minced no words: it declared that the Collector’s order was passed “only to nullify the directions given by this Court” and to give the police “a convenient reason to defy” the judicial mandate.

The judge invoked Article 261 of the Constitution, which mandates nationwide enforceability of judicial orders, making the police duty-bound to assist — not obstruct. “They cannot defy for any reason whatsoever,” the order stresses.

“Sound The Death Knell Of Democracy”

In a damning indictment, even the Division Bench dismissed the appeal filed by the Collector and Commissioner, calling it an attempt “with ulterior motive to preempt contempt action.”

Justice Swaminathan’s words reflect the gravity of the situation created by the DMK government:

The State administration “has decided to cock a snook at this Court’s order”

Defying the judiciary would “sound the death knell of democracy itself”

Officers cannot choose to obey or ignore court orders; doing so would “lead to anarchy” and must be “nipped in the bud”

In a striking historical reference, the judge compared the situation to the U.S. civil rights era, noting how President Eisenhower deployed the military when federal police refused to enforce desegregation orders — urging the Madurai Police Commissioner to “take inspiration.”

Court Quashes DMK Govt’s Prohibitory Order

Calling the District Magistrate’s order unconstitutional, impermissible, and void, the Court quashed it outright.

Then, in a direct command issued in the presence of the Police Commissioner over video conference, the Court ordered the police to give “fullest protection” to the devotees to climb the hill and light the Deepam — warning that “harsh consequences will ensue” if the DMK administration again disobeys.

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Twelve visitors were left stranded about 30 feet above ground on Tuesday after a roller coaster at the newly inaugurated Wonderla amusement park in Thiruporur malfunctioned following a power disruption. Rescue personnel at the park manually climbed the structure and safely brought the riders down, officials said. Videos recorded by onlookers quickly went viral on social media.

The park, located 56 km south of Chennai, was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin on 1 December 2025. Spread across 63 acres, Wonderla’s Chennai facility features 43 attractions, including what it describes as India’s first B&M inverted roller coaster.

Following the incident, Wonderla chairman and managing director Arun Chittilappilly released a video apologising for the inconvenience caused to visitors. He said the technical issue had been resolved and that all rides, including the roller coaster, had resumed operation.

Wonderla’s Expansion into Tamil Nadu

Wonderla, one of India’s leading amusement-park operators with existing parks in Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, has entered Tamil Nadu with its newest project on Old Mahabalipuram Road near Illalur in Chengalpattu district. Built over approximately 65 acres, the project is estimated to have cost around ₹510 crore.

The Chennai park includes a major highlight: a roller coaster designed by internationally renowned manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). Park officials say it is now India’s largest roller coaster and comparable to installations in global cities such as London and New York.

Attractions and Features

The Chennai Wonderla park is expected to house a total of 42 rides, including 16 water-based attractions. A dedicated children’s zone will feature 10 additional rides, taking the total number of rides on the premises to 52. Notable attractions include Mission Interstellar, Roller Coaster, Y-Stream, Wonderla Bump, and Pirate Ship.

After months of speculation, the company confirmed that the Chennai Wonderla Theme Park would open to the public on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. Ticket pricing details are expected to be announced shortly.

The Chengalpattu district administration has stated that all construction and safety-related work for the park has been completed.

(Source: Times of India)

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Aavin’s decision to withdraw its festival-season discount on ghee from 1 December 2025 has triggered renewed criticism from milk dealers, who allege that the State-run cooperative has still not passed on the GST rate reduction to consumers.

The controversy dates back to the September 3 GST Council meeting, where the Union government announced a GST rate cut from 12% to 5% on ghee, butter and cheese, and from 18% to 5% on ice cream. UHT milk and paneer were fully exempted from GST. The revised rates officially came into effect on 22 September 2025.

According to milk dealers’ associations, cooperatives across the country and major private dairies revised their price charts soon after the GST cut came into force. However, the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (Aavin), responsible for marketing milk and dairy products under the Aavin brand “failed to reduce the rate,” alleged the associations.

Instead of implementing the mandated post-GST price reduction, Aavin announced a temporary festival-season discount, keeping market prices unchanged until 30 October 2025. The Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Employees Welfare Association (TNMDEWA) said the discount was “used as a substitute for the mandatory GST-linked price reduction.”

Tensions escalated following Aavin’s circular dated 28 November 2025, instructing all district unions and channel partners to withdraw the ghee discount from December 1 and adopt a revised price chart. As per the circular, Aavin restored its pre-GST retail prices, effectively increasing ghee prices by:

• ₹40 per litre
• ₹20 per 500 ml
• ₹350 per 5 litres
• ₹1,155 per 15 kg tin

Condemning this move, association president S.A. Ponnusamy said, “Aavin first avoided implementing the GST reduction, then masked it as a festival discount. Now it has once again placed an unnecessary financial burden on consumers.”

Dealers said Aavin’s refusal to reflect the GST cut “amounted to disguised tax evasion,” and demanded that the cooperative immediately restore the reduced rates, publish a proper post-GST price chart, and ensure that the benefit of the tax reduction reaches consumers directly.

TNMDEWA had also filed a complaint with the GST headquarters in Chennai on 24 September 2025. With the GST Council yet to respond, the association said it would intensify its campaign if corrective action was not taken soon.

(Source: DTNext)

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In a recent interview with Tamil Janam news channel, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi alleged that the DMK government has systematically created a hostile environment for linguistic minorities and migrant workers, claiming this extended even to the denial of opportunities for children to learn their mother tongue in schools. His comments came in the context of a broader discussion on what he described as political attempts to project Hindi-speaking communities as a cultural threat to the state.

The Governor was responding to a question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during the Bihar election campaign, where he had stated that Biharis were being harassed in Tamil Nadu. Asked whether he had received “concrete evidence” of such harassment, he said he had no desire to “reopen a wound, a healing wound,” but went on to describe what he termed a sustained, politically driven atmosphere of intimidation between 2022 and 2023.

According to Ravi, the climate of hostility began when “senior ministers in the state government… had articulated their anti-Hindi position by speaking migrant laborers using the expression like panipuri selllers – “This is a guy who only bihari or the Hindi speaking guys are only fit for selling panipuri.”

He said that in April 2023, posters appeared across various parts of the state, featuring photographs of a political leader “threatening these Hindi speaking migrant laborers setting the deadline for them to leave Tamil Nadu.” He added, “Some of those posters are still with me… I have seen those posters myself.”

Ravi said these threats triggered “massive exodus” among workers in “labor intensive industries, construction, texile, printing,” which he said “heavily suffered” as a result. He described visiting several districts to meet frightened migrant workers: “I tell the people, don’t worry, people are very nice and hospitable.” He said he raised the issue with police officials, asking, “What is this hate campaign?”

Despite assurances from local officials, he stated that “some of the migrant laborers were assaulted, physically assaulted,” prompting him to issue a public message on May 5 to calm fears. “You don’t have to worry about it. People are so nice here they will not trouble you,” he said, recalling the social media appeal.

The Governor argued that the fear among migrants “was not ill-founded because there were evidence of open threat against them and some of them assaulted.” Industrial operators, he said, told him that their workforce had collapsed: “We are trying to get them back. They are not coming.”

He claimed the state government attempted “damage control” only after the economic impact became evident, maintaining that the climate of hostility had been built up which started from the middle of 2022, and it went on till mid 2023.

Governor Ravi repeatedly emphasised that Tamil Nadu’s people were not responsible. “People love them. People of Tamil Nadu who are very affectionate… know the worth of these migrant laborers.” Instead, he blamed “the perverse politics… projecting them as one those who have come to destroy our culture, our language,” which he said created imaginary fears leading to real consequences.

The remarks were made in a broadcast where Ravi also criticised the DMK government for preventing linguistic minorities from studying their own mother tongues in Tamil Nadu’s schools, linking this with what he described as an ideological push to frame non-Tamil linguistic groups as cultural outsiders.

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The post How DMK’s Anti-Hindi Politics Affected Migrant Labourers In Tamil Nadu, TN Governor RN Ravi Reveals appeared first on The Commune.

The DMK and its alliance parties have been relentlessly campaigning in Tamil Nadu that the BJP-led central government is siphoning off tax money from Tamils and giving it to North Indian states, particularly claiming that Bihar is being funded by Tamil Nadu’s taxes.

They use this narrative to:

• Hide their political defeat,
• Divert attention from the law and order problems under DMK rule,
• Distract from the failures and ineptitude of their own administration.

The only weapon they wield is the claim that the BJP is betraying Tamil Nadu.

For example, when asked why the state has borrowed about ₹4.5 lakh crore in the last four years, the DMK says the Centre isn’t releasing Tamil Nadu’s rightful share and blames the BJP. Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu stated that the Centre had reduced Tamil Nadu’s share in central taxes, dropping it from 7.931% to 4.079%.

As always, DMK mixes in a little truth with its lies. Yes, at one time Tamil Nadu’s tax devolution share was 7.9%. Yes, it is now 4%. However, what the finance minister did NOT explain is when and how this reduction occurred as distorting or hiding the truth is also a lie.

The Illusion Created By The DMK

The DMK attempts to create an illusion that it was only after the BJP came to power that Tamil Nadu’s share was reduced. But when was Tamil Nadu’s share really 7%? During the 9th Finance Commission, between 1990 and 1995.

Since then, the proportion has steadily decreased:

• 12th Finance Commission (2005–2010): 5.3%
• 13th Finance Commission (2010–2015): 4.97%
• 14th Finance Commission (2015–2020): 4.02%
• 15th Finance Commission (2020–2025): 4.08%

That is, even before the BJP came to power, the rate had dropped from 7% to around 5%. It sits at about 4% during BJP rule.

So, Who Is Responsible For The Reduction?

It is the Congress and DMK themselves, especially the DMK, which was in power at the Centre for nearly 25 years, including 15 consecutive years from 1999 to 2014. Yet, not once in that period did they raise their voice or protest about the reduction in Tamil Nadu’s share.

In fact, during the Congress regime, the overall percentage of tax devolution to states was lower. The Modi government raised it from 30.5% to 41%. In a recent finance commission meeting, Chief Minister Stalin himself cited the increase and requested that it go higher to 50%. DMK, once silent when the share was 30%, now attacks the BJP after a historic increase to 41%.

The claim that Tamil Nadu’s taxes are being diverted to Bihar or Uttar Pradesh is false—even under Congress rule, these states received their constitutionally mandated shares. Not just Tamil Nadu, but states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka (many BJP-ruled) have all seen their shares decrease over successive commissions—yet DMK only mentions Bihar and UP for their anti-Hindi propaganda.

During the DMK and Congress coalition, Bihar’s share was 11.03% and Uttar Pradesh’s was around 19%—and no one complained then. The overall rate for all states was lower under Congress.

Let’s Look At Some Facts

The Modi government raised state devolution from 30.5% to 41%.

This year, Tamil Nadu’s budget notes a record ₹80,000 crore is being transferred from the Centre, more than even what was projected.

These figures are found in the Tamil Nadu budget documents themselves.

The DMK’s narrative that the BJP government is cheating Tamil Nadu is a baseless political story:

The reduction from 7% began long before the BJP came to power.

The BJP government has raised, not reduced, the overall allocation to states.

The share for all southern and some northern states, including BJP-ruled states, has decreased.

The often-quoted “1 rupee given, only 29 paise returned” is a misleading statistic. When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman challenged the DMK to explain how that number was calculated, they had no answer. Karnataka, also ruled by the BJP, claims it only gets 15 paise – that’s the narrative politicians resort to.

If the DMK argues that Tamil Nadu is being cheated, they should release data on what Congress provided when DMK was an ally. Show, with evidence, the percentage under Congress and BJP. Show, with proof, that the BJP is giving Bihar or UP more than Congress did.

Stop deceiving the public with manipulated statistics and false narratives. Don’t peddle lies for divisive politics.

Conclusion

The history and data reveal that the reduction in Tamil Nadu’s tax share began decades ago and continued under Congress-DMK regimes. The Modi government increased overall state allocations, and Tamil Nadu itself is receiving record sums. The DMK’s relentless campaign blaming BJP and the North is a calculated political strategy that does not match the facts.

Ideaman Mahadevan is a writer and political commentator.

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The post Fact-Check: BJP Govt Did Not Reduce Tamil Nadu’s Tax Share, Here’s The Proof appeared first on The Commune.

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has alleged that the DMK government denied linguistic minority communities the right to teach their children their mother tongues in schools, arguing that this suppression continued until the Supreme Court intervened in 2023. In a recent interview with a private news channel, the Governor linked this issue to what he described as a broader ideological framework of “Tamil exceptionalism” driving the state’s politics.

Responding to questions about the political hostility directed at him, Ravi said that the anti-Hindi or anti-north narrative alone does not explain Tamil Nadu’s political character. Instead, he argued, “It is essentially Tamil exceptionalism that Tamil people and Tamil Nadu are distinct from the rest of the country… they call Dravid is a separate race… and Tamil language is a language which has nothing to do with any Indian languages.”

He said both these ideas were rooted in “European origin”, specifically “German Nazis” and “Robert Caldwell” and were used in modern times to justify hostility toward other linguistic groups.

“They hate all other languages other than Tamil”

Ravi said that linguistic minorities—who constitute over 35% of Tamil Nadu’s population—have faced systemic barriers to mother-tongue education.

“In our state, there are over 35% people living of linguistic minority but they are not allowed to teach their mother tongue to their children in schools run by them,” he said. He pointed to events from 2022, claiming the state government “didn’t allow them to do” so even in schools run by minority communities.

According to the Governor, these communities were forced to approach the Supreme Court. “In September 2023 Supreme Court gave a verdict and in that case a state government fought it very strongly to hold their position but Supreme Court said no, linguistic minorities have their constitutional fundamental rights to teach their children their mother tongue.”

Ravi added that the issue extended beyond Hindi: “The reality is they hate all other languages other than Tamil. Linguistic minorities here they are afraid beyond their house to talk in their mother tongue.”

Supreme Court Verdict: Minimum Marks for Mother Tongue Subjects

The case cited by the Governor relates to a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on a petition filed by the Linguistic Minorities Forum of Tamil Nadu.

The Court held that minority schools must prescribe minimum qualifying marks in mother tongue subjects including Urdu, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, treating them on par with Tamil and English. This was to ensure genuine proficiency and prevent optional language subjects from being reduced to formality.

The ruling drew upon earlier circulars from 1965, 2010, and 2011 that Tamil Nadu had not fully implemented. The bench emphasised that linguistic minorities’ rights under Articles 29 and 30 include the right to meaningful mother tongue instruction.

The judgment built upon ongoing matters from 2022 (SLP(C) 16727/2022) and earlier orders that extended exemptions from compulsory Tamil papers for minority schools.

Government Resistance and Compliance

The Tamil Nadu government argued that compulsory minimum marks were unnecessary within the state’s two-language policy (Tamil and English). However, the Supreme Court disagreed and directed the state to implement the measures “in letter and spirit.”

Following the ruling, the state revised the Class 10 marks pattern in 2024 to bring minority mother-tongue subjects on par with core languages.

Governor Ravi cited the verdict as proof that the DMK government had withheld minority language rights. He framed it as part of a larger ideological hostility: “So when you talk about Hindi… they hate all other languages other than Tamil.”

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Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu on Friday, 28 November 2025, launched a sharp attack on Governor R.N. Ravi, calling him a “terrorist” and alleging that he was attempting to bring terrorism into the state. His remarks came in response to the Governor’s recent observations suggesting a decline in Tamil Nadu’s law-and-order situation.

Appavu said, “In a way, what he says is true. The only terrorist is him and there is no one terrorist here. That is his mindset, he is referring to himself when he talks about a terrorist, there is no one else here,” claiming that the Governor’s comments reflected “his own thoughts” rather than the reality on the ground. He asserted that Tamil Nadu had no terrorism issue and alleged that the Governor was attempting to “instigate” unrest. “In this state, there is no terrorism and there are no law and order issues. He is simply hoping that terrorism will emerge here, that’s all. He was in places where terrorism prevailed, and he wants to instigate that here, but it will not happen,” he said.

Taking aim at the Governor’s background, Appavu remarked, “Tamil Nadu people are educated and not like in his place,” and stated that the state continued to remain safe under the Chief Minister’s leadership. “Everyone here is safe and the Chief Minister is doing safe governance,” he added.

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Thiru Appavu, has stooped to the extent of calling the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu, Thiru RN Ravi avl, a “terrorist” merely for highlighting the disturbing rise in terror-related incidents under the DMK Government.

Has… pic.twitter.com/fYwIsclSDi

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) November 28, 2025

 Governor Ravi has in recent weeks intensified his criticism of the DMK government, claiming Tamil Nadu’s politics is driven by “Tamil exceptionalism” and accusing political leaders of promoting hatred against other languages.

(Source: India Today)

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A year after chief minister M. K. Stalin inaugurated the ₹42-crore omni bus terminal in Mudichur, the five-acre facility remains largely unused, with long-distance private operators continuing to load and unload passengers from core city locations in violation of Madras high court directions.

Earlier this week, only about 15 buses were parked inside the depot, which has the capacity to hold 150. The terminal, located along the Outer Ring Road (ORR), was declared ready for operations in December 2024. However, operators who run more than 1,000 private buses to southern and western districts have not shifted from Koyambedu.

In February 2024, the high court granted an interim stay favouring operators but limited the relief to those who already had depots in Koyambedu and only until the Mudichur facility became operational. Despite the depot being ready, operators have continued using inner-city pick-up points and have not complied with the court-mandated route via the Chennai Bypass, Perungalathur, and onwards to Kilambakkam. Officials noted that some buses still use the Inner Ring Road in violation of orders.

According to RR Agency co-founder Raghunathan Jayakumar, whose firm manages the depot, the space has a 180-bed dormitory, five restrooms, two restaurants, and toilets within the dormitory. He said the parking charge is ₹150 per bus per day and the dormitory fee is ₹80 per person. He stated that the facility has a dedicated entry and exit connecting directly to the ORR and linking to Kilambakkam, located 8 km away via the Grand Southern Trunk Road. He also said operators had recently demanded exclusive exit bays, which were constructed, but they still refused to shift. He added that the agency was maintaining the depot at a loss and paying staff despite minimal utilisation, as the CMDA had asked them to wait for operators to begin using the space.

All Omni Bus Association president A. Anbalagan said operators were unwilling to relocate because “there is no connectivity to Kilambakkam,” and most bookings originated from inner-city locations rather than the new terminal. He stated that operators typically received around eight bookings from Ambattur, more than ten from central Chennai, and only three to four from Kilambakkam, adding that operators would function only where passenger demand existed.

Transport joint commissioner (enforcement) Pattapasamy said this resistance was similar to the opposition seen when operators were asked to move from Egmore to Koyambedu in the 1990s, adding that authorities were holding discussions to gradually shift them to the Mudichur depot.

(Source: Times of India)

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The Karur crowd crush of September 2025 should have been a political funeral. 41 people died including a two‑year‑old, young couples, mothers with their daughters, crushed in three successive waves at a TVK rally where the FIR explicitly names party office‑bearers for reckless over‑mobilisation. In any textbook democracy, the leader at the centre of such a mass‑casualty disaster would face prolonged political exile, if not criminal liability. Instead, Vijay returned to the campaign trail within weeks, rebranded himself as the victim of a DMK conspiracy, and is now being reinforced by one of the most experienced organisation men in Dravidian politics. That trajectory, from culpability to consolidation, is the real story of late 2025.

The Psychology Of Absolution

What makes Karur historically unusual is not the tragedy itself; India has seen stampedes before. It is the public psychology that followed. Grieving families, on camera, said Vijay should not be blamed. Some even spoke of consoling him when he called them. His supporters instead chose to frame it as a disaster deliberately orchestrated by the DMK to curb his rise. The mental gymnastics needed to turn 40 preventable deaths at Vijay’s own rally into a storyboard of someone else’s villainy is astonishing — and, disturbingly, it seems to have worked.

This is not mere “fan loyalty.” It is a new strain of political psychology where emotional investment in a leader becomes so intense that objective culpability cannot penetrate it. The same voters who would demand resignations if a DMK or AIADMK rally killed dozens have decided, almost instinctively, that Vijay is exempt. That exemption is now a political fact, and every other actor in Tamil Nadu must reckon with it. And not every one will get this leeway or advantage.

Vijay’s Transformation: From Screen Image To Political Inevitability

Until TVK’s launch, Vijay’s “politics” was widely read as a combination of three things: his carefully crafted screen persona (the righteous outsider fighting systemic corruption), his late father S.A. Chandrasekhar’s unfulfilled ambitions, and the absence of any visible grassroots organisation or ideological framework. He is not a great orator like a Karunanidhi, Seeman or Annamalai. He doesn’t have the administrative depth, versatility or in-depth knowledge like Jayalalithaa. He has not built a grassroot cadre-based entrenched parties like how MGR or Jayalalithaa did. Vijay is seeing politics as an extension of his cinematic persona. That explains the cringeworthy, scripted and rehearsed speeches on stage and social media bytes. Everybody including this author still feel that Vijay is just all hype and no substance.

But the game changed in Karur. Vijay’s first major post‑tragedy speech was not apologetic but combative. It became an opportunity for him to make it into a DMK–TVK fight. The crowds that once saw him as a superstar now see him as a wronged leader fighting a hostile regime, an underdog – a classic victim‑to‑challenger arc that Karur, perversely, accelerated.

Yet this “inevitability” narrative has limits. TVK’s visible strength is concentrated in urban and peri‑urban belts, among first‑time voters and anti‑establishment middle‑class blocs. There is much less evidence of penetration into Dalit‑marginal constituencies that VCK, Left parties, and smaller outfits still organise at the ground level. Caste‑anchored local leadership, panchayat‑level patronage networks, and trade‑union linkages remain weak points. Treating Vijay as the “third pole that has already replaced AIADMK” is exactly the premature coronation TVK wants the ecosystem to perform.

Sengottaiyan: The Full‑Stack Organisation Man

Into this volatile moment walks K.A. Sengottaiyan, a man who spent roughly half a century inside AIADMK’s machine, from MGR’s early campaigns through Jayalalithaa’s iron rule and the post‑Jaya EPS period. His brand is not charisma but organisation: loyalty to leadership so total that he was called AIADMK’s “rubber stamp,” an iron grip over Kongu region networks, and an instinct for converting crowds, cadres, and caste equations into winnable arithmetic.

That such a man walks out after 50 years, resigns his MLA seat, gets expelled by EPS, and then crosses over to TVK, not DMK, signals several things at once:

• He believes AIADMK, as currently led, is a sinking or at least stagnating ship, incapable of offering him meaningful authority.
• He reads TVK as the only vehicle where his experience will translate into real command, not decorative posting.

TVK has validated that reading immediately. Sengottaiyan has been made chief coordinator of the party’s executive committee and organisational secretary for the western region (Erode, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur), posts structurally placed alongside, not below, the general secretary and campaign general secretary. For a party dismissed as a fan club with no clarity, this is fast‑track institutionalisation: a proper chain of command, region‑wise responsibilities, and a 77‑year‑old with an MGR–Jaya pedigree supervising young aspirants.

The Double‑Edged Sword

But Sengottaiyan is not a cost‑free asset. He embodies the old Dravidian style: opaque deal‑making, top‑down discipline, and comfort with caste‑weighted arithmetic. If Vijay truly wants to present TVK as a clean break from 50 years of DMK–AIADMK cynicism, he now has to explain why his first major induction is exactly the sort of back‑room strongman his Gen‑Z supporters said they were done with.

There is also a tactical risk. By placing Sengottaiyan at the executive committee’s apex, Vijay has narrowed his own future room for course‑correction. If TVK underperforms in the Kongu belt, or if there is backlash within AIADMK‑leaning Gounder blocs against this defection, rolling back Sengottaiyan’s influence later will be politically costly and publicly embarrassing.

AIADMK’s Historic Blunder

Losing Sengottaiyan to Vijay is not just an embarrassment for Edappadi Palaniswami; it may prove to be a historic miscalculation for the entire anti‑DMK space. Until now, DMK vs TVK looked like a far-fetched rhetoric. But with Sengottaiyan’s induction it has begun crystallizing. Whether this momentum will continue to bring in other disgruntled leaders like O Paneerselvam, TTV Dhinakaran and others will determine TVK’s weight as a formidable third front. But Edappadi Palaniswami’s attempt to keep an iron grip on the party is having its effect — people are slipping away like sand through a clenched fist

AIADMK has effectively pushed a veteran like Sengottaiyan into TVK’s arms, thereby strengthening the very challenger that could, in time, cannibalise its own base.

In western Tamil Nadu especially, where caste‑driven Kongu arithmetic has long underpinned AIADMK’s strength, Sengottaiyan’s relocation offers TVK ready‑made ground networks that no fan club can build overnight. Even if TVK does not immediately convert this into dozens of seats, it can deny AIADMK easy victories, distort margins, and accelerate the fragmentation of the non‑DMK vote.

BJP’s Silent Loss

A few weeks ago, Sengottaiyan met senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman, amid discussions that may have included a possible shift to the BJP. However, since the BJP had already finalized its alliance with Palaniswami, any move by Sengottaiyan to join BJP would have been seen as politically inappropriate and akin to poaching. Had he joined BJP before the alliance was sealed, it could have strengthened BJP’s organizational presence significantly.

But now for the BJP, this is almost a strategic dead‑end. Reports indicate that Union ministers and RSS functionaries tried to use Sengottaiyan’s anger to reshape AIADMK into a more pliable partner; those efforts failed, and once his intentions became clear, Delhi quietly backed off. In effect, Sengottaiyan’s jump helps lock BJP into a spectator role in Tamil Nadu, unless it can engineer a fresh realignment closer to polling.

DMK’s Comfort And Blind Spot

DMK’s front, meanwhile, remains numerically solid: Congress, Left, VCK, MDMK, and even Kamal’s MNM are either within or orbiting the alliance space, giving Stalin a broad “secular” shield and a narrative of stability. There are ongoing feelers to PMK, DMDK, and other caste‑based outfits to at least prevent them from becoming spearheads of a rival bloc.

But DMK’s comfort inside this stitched‑together coalition can also be a blind spot. The party’s answer to TVK so far is to sneer at its supposed lack of ideology while downplaying how post‑Karur sympathy, anti‑corruption rhetoric, and a high‑decibel social‑justice plank are reshaping youth perceptions. Each time Vijay calls DMK a “looting syndicate” or “dynasty cartel” and backs it with selective data points, he is not just firing at Stalin; he is offering disillusioned DMK‑haters an option that is neither AIADMK nor BJP. With Sengottaiyan’s entry, that option now has a spine.

The Larger Precedent: Impunity With Fan Consent

The sharper way to read Karur is not just as Vijay’s “baptism in blood” but as the normalisation of impunity with fan consent. International and national coverage emphasises three crush waves, failure of mic and spotlight systems, overcrowding beyond permitted numbers, and even TVK cadres blocking ambulances. When that chain of preventable errors ends without any serious political cost to the central figure, it signals to all future organisers of every party that such risks are survivable so long as blame can be narratively outsourced to the administration.

India still lacks a binding, justiciable framework for maximum density, exit‑to‑entry ratios, or real‑time crowd‑flow monitoring at political events, despite repeated stampedes in temples and rallies across the country. Karur is not only TVK’s sin; it is a symptom of how all parties have normalised unsafe rallies for decades. But the fact that Vijay emerged politically stronger from it, rather than diminished, sets a precedent that will embolden future recklessness across the spectrum.

Where This Trajectory Points

It is still too early to project vote‑shares or seat counts. Karur’s ghosts will follow TVK into 2026; court findings and commission reports can still reshape public memory; and organising a party is not the same as organising a fan club. Yet some trajectories are already visible:

First, Vijay has survived a moment that would have ethically destroyed many leaders and has emerged with an even more hardened, emotionally committed base.

Second, TVK has recruited one of the last “full‑stack” organisation men of Dravidian politics, giving the party a ready‑made manual in booth work, cadre discipline, and alliance negotiation.

Third, the anti‑DMK space is now splitting into 2 with being the apex of a possible third front.

If there is a single line that captures this phase, it is this: Karur did not stop Vijay’s politics; it baptised it in blood, and Sengottaiyan’s jump has now given that baptism an organisational church. Whether Tamil Nadu rewards or punishes that combination will decide not just 2026, but the post‑Dravidian balance of power itself.

Hydra is a political writer. 

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The post Vijay May Be A ‘Tharkuri’ But He Must Be Taken Seriously, What Sengottaiyan Joining TVK Means For Tamil Nadu Political Parties appeared first on The Commune.