TVK accuses DMK of offering Rs 35 crore to poach its MLA in TN

TVK Minister P. Nirmal Kumar accused the DMK of trying to poach party MLAs to topple the government. He alleged one MLA was offered Rs 35 crore. Three people have been arrested in the case following a police complaint by the MLA.

As three arrests were made in the alleged attempt at political horse-trading of TVK MLAs, Tamil Nadu Minister P. Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday slammed the DMK, saying that for the last 40 days, the opposition party has been trying to poach his party MLAs adding that former chief Minister MK Stalin is unable to digest people's verdict in the recently concluded Assembly polls here.

Speaking to reporters, P Nirmal Kumar asserted that one of the TVK MLAs was offered Rs 35 crore. "We have been saying continuously for the last 40 days that the DMK, Stalin, and his team have been trying to poach our MLAs. A few days ago, one of our MLAs was threatened by DMK members. This was backed by Senthil Balaji and his brother, Ashok. With their support, they allegedly offered around Rs 35 crore to one of our MLAs and asked him to vote against TVK when a no-confidence motion against the Speaker is brought. That was their request. When he refused, he was allegedly threatened severely by DMK members. He has filed a complaint along with all the evidence. Based on this, the police have arrested three persons. All three are close aides of Senthil Balaji," he said.

Condemning the "horse-trading", Kumar said Stalin is trying to "topple the government". "We strongly condemn this act. Stalin has already lost his own constituency, and even in Kolathur, he suffered a major setback. The people of Tamil Nadu have clearly rejected him. Instead of accepting the people's verdict, he is trying to engage in horse-trading, join hands with the AIADMK, and topple the government," he said.

Three arrested in horse-trading case

An alleged attempt at political horse-trading has surfaced in Tamil Nadu after MLA N Elaiyaraja claimed that he was offered Rs 35 crore and threatened to influence his vote in a legislative resolution, following which police registered a case and arrested three persons, officials said on Wednesday.

Details of the complaint

According to the complaint filed on June 29 with the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, Elaiyaraja stated that a person named Thirunavukkarasu contacted him and claimed to be running an opinion polling organisation called Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), saying he was reaching out at the request of members of a major political party.

The complainant alleged that Thirunavukkarasu later asked him to vote in a particular manner during a proposed resolution against the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and offered him up to Rs 35 crore as inducement.

Elaiyaraja further alleged that he was threatened after refusing the offer and warned against disclosing the conversation. Following the complaint, a case was registered at the D1 Triplicane Police Station.

Police arrested Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam, Chennai, along with Naresh of Tiruchirappalli and Thiyagarajan of Medavakkam, Chennai, who were allegedly involved in the conspiracy.

Investigation points to DMK links

Further investigation, as per the complaint, revealed that V Ashok Kumar, brother of former DMK minister and current MLA for Coimbatore South V Senthil Balaji, had met the accused Naresh in Chennai.It was also stated that Thirunavukkarasu acted on instructions allegedly linked to V. Senthil Balaji and V Ashok Kumar.

Police said the investigation into the case is ongoing.

Context: TVK's 2026 Election Victory

The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections marked a historic shift in state politics as TVK won 108 seats in its debut election, ending the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK formations. Following the Victory, Vijay assumed charge at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai shortly after taking the oath as the 13th Chief Minister of the state.

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