Chennai: Opposition parties on Thursday mounted pressure on TVK govt, demanding action against Kallakurichi MLA C Arul Vignesh for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a woman district collector.DMK president M K Stalin, leader of the opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, AIADMK organisational secretary D Jayakumar and AIDWA state president K Balabharathi accused chief minister C Joseph Vijay of shielding the MLA. DMK organisational secretary R S Bharathi submitted a complaint to the DGP seeking legal action against the MLA.Stalin ridiculed the TVK MLAs’ meeting at a resort on Wednesday as a “damage control” exercise aimed at planting a false narrative in the media that Vijay had issued a “stern warning” to TVK MLAs. “If that was the case, he should have taken action against the deputy speaker and Kallakurichi MLA. Instead, the ‘strict officer’ gave them Diwali gifts,” Stalin said, asking, “Was this the strict action he had promised?”Udhayanidhi too questioned CM for not initiating action against the MLA and the deputy speaker. He asked if CM lacked courage to act against his own partymen for their wrongdoing. Jayakumar said if he were in the collector’s position, he would have ordered “an encounter” against the accused.Meanwhile, AIDWA state president K Balabharathi led a protest demanding the MLA’s arrest in Chennai. She condemned TVK govt and CM Vijay, saying they failed to act against the party legislator. Calling it a shameful incident, she said, “The govt should tender an apology to the collector.”She also hit out at TNCC president Manickam Tagore for defending the MLA and describing him as “paavam”. “Is this how the CM ensures the safety of women? If a collector is subjected to this, what about ordinary women?” she asked.
