'Fascist attack on democracy': Vijay slams DMK after TVK's Perambur rally denied nod

With less than a month to go for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the animosity between the state’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and actor-politician Vijay’s debut-seeking Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has come to the fore once again.

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The latest episode of acrimony has surfaced after the TVK has been denied permission to hold a poll rally in Perambur in north Chennai, something that its celebrity supremo has slammed as a “fascist attack on democracy”. It has been alleged once again that the DMK government is deliberately obstructing the nascent party’s activities out of fear for its growing popularity.

TVK's plan to challenge DMK in its den

The campaign rally was scheduled for Saturday (March 28) at Perambur’s Mullai Nagar junction. What makes Perambur a hot seat this election is the speculation that Vijay could contest from there in the April 23 elections. It is currently held by the DMK.

Perambur also borders Kolathur, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s constituency. Political observers see Vijay’s likely entry from this DMK stronghold as a direct challenge to the ruling party’s Chennai citadel, where the DMK swept all seats in 2021.

The TVK had applied for permission for the rally on March 26, two days in advance, as required.

However, just on the eve of the event, Chennai Corporation officials allegedly dug pits at the venue and erected iron barriers, rendering the site unusable. A subsequent police inspection concluded that the location could not accommodate 3,000 people, leading to the outright rejection of the party’s application.

Vijay's fierce condemnation

Vijay vehemently condemned the turn of events, accusing the Chennai Police and certain officials of colluding to disrupt the rally.

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“The obstruction by the Chennai City Police and some officials to the propaganda planned by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is nothing but a fascist attack on democracy,” he said.

“Where did these sudden pits and iron barriers come from?” the leader asked, pointing to an alleged conspiracy to ruin his party’s plans.

Saying the police cited concerns over the crowd size, which resulted in the permission getting denied, Vijay called the episode part of a “continuing saga” of delays and denials to stop his party’s campaigns.

'Whenever I try to...'

“Whenever I try to conduct election propaganda on behalf of TVK, the DMK government cites various reasons to delay or deny permission. This deliberate crushing of the democratic rights of a new political party that enjoys massive public support makes one wonder if some officials are acting as agents of the ruling party,” he said.

Vijay also said that such a response from the DMK showed that it was in a state of panic and said in an optimistic tone that the people of Tamil Nadu would make it pay the price.

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“This denial itself is proof of how much the DMK fears Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. In the coming Assembly elections, the people of Tamil Nadu will certainly send this anti-democratic DMK regime packing,” he declared.

The party has now applied for a permission to hold the rally on Monday (March 30).

Explaining the procedure, Chennai District Election Officer J Kumaragurubaran said, “No political meeting can be held without police permission. Applications for such events must be submitted online through the Suvidha portal at least 48 hours in advance.”

He added that even in-person submissions cannot override the online requirement. “If all documents are in order, permission is granted immediately. A mere note stating the meeting is scheduled for the next day is not sufficient."

The row comes against the painful backdrop of the Karur stampede at the TVK’s rally on September 27 last year, one of the deadliest political rally disasters in the country’s history, in which more than 40 people were killed, including women and children, while over a 100 were injured.

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While the DMK has repeatedly pointed to the Karur incident to question TVK’s organisational capacity, the latter has countered that the tragedy was exacerbated by administrative lapses and counter-accused the ruling party of politicising the deaths to suppress its rise.

TVK party event also deferred by two days

Meanwhile, the TVK also faced another obstruction on Friday when its candidate-introduction meeting scheduled at a star hotel in Nungambakkam, Chennai, also got postponed. While the city police gave approval, the Election Commission initially did not. Later, the poll body gave its nod, and the event will now take place at Chennai’s Taj Coromandel Hotel on March 29.