Chennai: Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, former chief ministers and leaders of various political parties on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for the spate of murders across the state. Opposition leaders said even policemen were being attacked by criminal elements. They also flayed TVK’s Kallakurichi MLA Arul Vingesh, for his alleged misconduct and deputy Speaker of the assembly Ravi Shankar for allegedly assaulting a resident.“When would you rein in your MLAs?” Udhayanidhi asked Vijay. Citing the murder of a PMK functionary using a country made gun in Gudiyatham, he said murders were being reported from corner of the state, but the police were busy covering up crimes.“Ruling party MLAs are threatening people, assaulting them, holding kangaroo courts and collecting commissions. Their atrocities pose a threat to everyone, from ordinary citizens to women IAS officers. But the CM remains in sleep mode,” he said.In a post on X, former chief minister M K Stalin said “law and order was in the ICU while governance was in a coma.” He condemned the Kallakurichi MLA for his alleged messages to a woman collector. “Under this inefficient govt, criminals have no fear, the police department lacks safety and TVK’s elected representatives have no control over their actions,” he said.AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said it was shocking that the Kallakurichi MLA had allegedly sent obscene messages to the collector.“A district collector, who is responsible for ensuring the safety of people and women in the district, has no safety because of the ruling party MLA. This is a shame,” Palaniswami said in a post tagging the CM’s official X handle and questioning whether Vijay would respond to the incident.PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss condemned the killing of his party functionary and urged the govt to take stringent measures to curb the spread of “gun culture” in the state. State BJP president Nainar Nagenthran said women in the state are not safe under the present administration. “From a toddler to the district collector, nobody is safe,” he said.CPM state secretary P Shanmugam condemned Vijay for failing to act immediately and warned that the inaction would bring disrepute to the CM. Congress MPs Sudha and Jothimani, DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth and several other political leaders also condemned the alleged conduct of the Kallakurichi MLA and demanded action against him.
