Tamil Nadu CM Vijay fails to uphold constitutional morality: DMK MP A. Raja

DMK deputy general secretary and Lok Sabha MP A. Raja, on Tuesday (June 2, 2026), accused Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of failing to uphold constitutional morality and accountability while addressing a meeting in Tiruchi to thank voters, a day earlier.

“It is unbecoming of a Chief Minister. If one compares the tone and tenor of his speech in the Assembly with the tone of ridicule and aggression in Tiruchi, one can sense tiredness, hesitation and helplessness in his Assembly speech. Why did he deliver such a speech of bravado in Tiruchi? Who scripted it? If you compare the two speeches, you can understand the political manoeuvring, lamentation and embarrassment behind it,” Mr. Raja told reporters at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, in Chennai.

Reacting to Mr. Vijay’s reiteration that the political contest was between the DMK and the TVK and his use of the colloquial Tamil term “Allu Chillu” to describe parties other than the DMK, Mr. Raja wondered whether the Chief Minister was not embarrassed by such remarks.

“You visited those very ‘Allu Chillus’, presented them with shawls and sought their votes (during the trust vote). Was that decent politics or fraudulent politics? Do people not know about it? Can you say anything that pleases you?” Mr. Raja asked.

He said it was unfair on the part of the Chief Minister to react angrily to his comments about those who had urged people to free themselves from the politics of glamour.

“You are occupying a constitutional office, Brother Vijay. We too have the right to question you,” he said.

Mr. Raja said while Mr. Vijay had every right to criticise the DMK, he should have spent some time explaining about his meeting with the Prime Minister and what he had sought from the Union government.

“Do you know who [former Chief Minister] Stalin is? He once said he would not allow any violation of the Constitution in Tamil Nadu. Yet you have merely issued an order seeking the invocation of constitutional provisions. A government can be dismissed if it violates the Constitution. We have not violated it. Yet you are petitioning the Union government for intervention,” he said.

Mr. Raja said the DMK could wait six months before offering a broader assessment of Mr. Vijay’s government, but that did not mean it would refrain from commenting on day-to-day governance.

“We will continue to speak about the administration. We will not remain silent simply because you ask us to,” he said.