Tamil Nadu State Law and Electricity Minister, Nirmal Kumar alleged that leaders linked to both Dravidian parties were approaching Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLAs with lucrative offers. He also accused DMK president MK Stalin and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin of being involved in the alleged attempts.
"Not just AIADMK, even people linked to the DMK have already been arrested. Since the elections got over, they have tried to contact TVK MLAs and continue to attempt to buy them. Some have been arrested by the police, including a few key people from Karur. This has happened in several places," Nirmal Kumar alleged.
The minister further claimed that offers had gone up to Rs 60-70 crore, but insisted that no TVK legislator would accept the money or switch sides.
The DMK, AIADMK and BJP have denied the allegations. The DMK, in turn, has accused the ruling party of surviving through horse-trading, pointing to the resignation and subsequent switch to the TVK by six sitting AIADMK MLAs after the Assembly elections.
In July, Tamil Nadu Police had arrested eight people, including a pollster, for allegedly offering Rs 35 crore to a TVK MLA to vote against the government in a proposed no-confidence motion. Police had also booked the brother of former DMK minister V Senthil Balaji in connection with the case.
The latest allegations have been strongly contested by the DMK. Responding to the minister's charges, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan rejected the suggestion that either the DMK or AIADMK had any reason to purchase TVK legislators. He accused the ruling party of itself resorting to horse-trading to stay in power.
The DMK also invoked what it described as the TVK's 'sofa model', alleging that the government had benefited from resignations and subsequent switches by AIADMK legislators. Six sitting AIADMK MLAs resigned and subsequently joined the TVK after the Assembly elections, triggering allegations of political inducements. The TVK has rejected charges of horse-trading.
The political temperature is rising as November 13 approaches. The date marks six months since the minority TVK government proved its majority in the Assembly, potentially opening the way for another confidence motion.
The TVK currently has 109 MLAs, nine short of the 118 required for a simple majority in the 234-member Assembly. However, it has the backing of its allies - the Congress, VCK and IUML, while the CPI and CPM extend support from outside the government.
The political significance of the allegations goes beyond the immediate question of the government's survival. For the first time in decades, both the DMK and AIADMK find themselves out of power, with the TVK having disrupted the state's traditional two-party political equation.
The Congress, a long-standing DMK ally, has crossed over to the TVK-led alliance following the Assembly elections, strengthening the Congress's position in Tamil Nadu. BJP sources say the party is worried that the TVK-Congress combination could sweep the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, much like the DMK-Congress alliance did in 2019 and 2024.
This comes at a time when the BJP, in its third term at the Centre, is heading a minority government dependent on allies for its survival. The emerging TVK-Congress combination is seen within the BJP as a potential threat to the saffron party's political prospects amid the rise of the Cockroach Janata Party.
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