DMK president M. K. Stalin levelled a sharp, point-by-point rebuttal at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay on Friday, 25 September 2026, targeting a campaign speech delivered at Maduranthakam and accusing the Chief Minister of hypocrisy, broken promises, and political double standards.

The Maduranthakam 'Dialogue Delivery' That Sparked the Riposte

Stalin opened with a theatrical jab, telling Vijay — a former film star who publicly pledged to quit acting before entering politics — that he had 'stopped acting on screen but continues to perform in front of the people.' Calling the Chief Minister's Maduranthakam address a 'dialogue delivery,' Stalin said he watched the speech and was left with several pointed questions for the ruling leader.

Central to his attack was the allegation that Vijay had fielded a candidate named Maragatham Kumaravelan, described as having been 'bought' from the AIADMK, and yet simultaneously declared that 'TVK is the pure force, DMK is the dark force.' Stalin asked how the Chief Minister could mouth such lines without embarrassment while standing beside a candidate he accused of crossing the floor for money.

NDA MLA Poaching and the Ink That Had Not Yet Dried

Stalin pressed harder on the defection question, asking whether pulling NDA coalition MLAs across party lines — 'before the ink on voters' fingers had even faded' — was what Vijay's camp meant by being a 'pure force.' He challenged the Chief Minister to assess how his own candidates were being received on the ground, alleging that voters were chasing them away asking how much they had taken from TVK.

The DMK chief then turned to Vijay's claim that DMK and BJP were indistinguishable. Stalin pointed to what he described as a standing practice in the Tamil Nadu assembly: that any mention of 'BJP,' even from a minister of an allied party, is immediately struck from the record. 'Do the people watching live not see who does that?' he asked, demanding to know how many times Vijay had actually spoken or agitated against BJP since founding his party — beyond what Stalin called 'silent revolution,' which he equated to 'surrender.'

The 'Empty Treasury' U-Turn and the Governance Scorecard

One of the sharpest passages in Stalin's post concerned Vijay's pre-election positioning. Stalin recalled Vijay saying, in the manner of the Tamil film character Anniyan, that he would 'only promise what is practically achievable' and would not speak of gradual, merit-based delivery 'like DMK.' Yet once in power, Stalin wrote, the Chief Minister pivoted to an 'Ambi mode' — a reference to another film character — throwing up his hands and citing an empty treasury.

Stalin went further, listing what he called the genuine achievements of Vijay's government in sardonic terms: 'Vetri power-cut scheme, Vetri sickle-attack scheme, Vetri price-rise scheme, Vetri dengue-fever scheme, Vetri milk-shortage scheme.' He argued that every legitimate programme the current administration could point to was merely a continuation of schemes DMK had introduced, with nothing original to show.

Karur Deaths, the Jem Veeramani Case, and a Demand for Dignity

Stalin also addressed what he described as Vijay's conduct following the death of 41 people in Karur — alleging the Chief Minister had 'run and hidden' rather than respond to the tragedy. He said his own comment at the time — that 'no leader would want his supporters to die' — was not an attempt to score political points from the episode, and challenged Vijay to reflect on how far he had 'stooped' in political conduct.

On the Jem Veeramani case, Stalin noted that Vijay had publicly demanded he speak out on the matter, but that the High Court had already advised against politicising the case — advice Stalin suggested Vijay's own officials had apparently not passed along to him.

Stalin closed with a direct address: 'CM Sir, ask yourself whether you are speaking with the responsibility and dignity that the position of Chief Minister demands.'