TIRUPPUR: Tiruppur district police on Sunday registered a case against Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly involving a minor in an election campaign for the Dharapuram by-election.According to police, the incident took place during a campaign meeting near the Periyar statue in Dharapuram town on Saturday. Udhayanidhi allegedly made a minor boy get onto a campaign van and speak at the meeting.While speaking, the boy made remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, saying, “Om Kali.. Bhadra Kali…”.Police said the act violated Election Commission guidelines that prohibit involving children in any election-related activity. They also alleged that the child was made to speak in a manner insulting to the Chief Minister. The case was registered at Dharapuram police station and further investigation is underway.Udhayanidhi was campaigning for the second time in the Nochipalayam area of Dharapuram, seeking support for DMK candidate Suganya.Addressing the rally, the former deputy chief minister said that although the people had not given the DMK victory in the last election, the party had represented the Dharapuram constituency in the Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2026.The Dharapuram bypoll is scheduled for October 6, with counting on October 9. The bypoll was necessitated after AIADMK MLA P Sathyabama resigned in May 2026, days after winning the seat on an AIADMK ticket in the 2026 Assembly elections. She subsequently joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and is now contesting as the TVK candidate.Dharapuram is a Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency in Tiruppur district, where Scheduled Castes constitute about a quarter of the population.The bypoll has emerged as a contest involving several major parties. TVK has fielded P Sathyabama, DMK has fielded Advocate S Suganya, AIADMK has fielded K Bhanumathi, while CPI’s P Lakshmanan and NTK’s M Karthika are also in the fray.The contest is also being closely watched as an electoral test for the TVK government, which currently does not hold an outright majority and needs to win both Dharapuram and Madurantakam bypolls to strengthen its position.(With Agnecy Inputs)
