₹35 crore to topple Vijay govt: TVK MLA alleges horse-trading; ‘DMK link’ emerges

NBetimes ii months after Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief C chief joseph Vijay took swearing as Tamil Nadu chief government minister, startling revelations of attempts to topple the government have surfaced with allegations being made against the DMK. An MLA has come forward claiming that he was offered money to quit the TVK party, hinting at alleged attempts at political horse-trading. MLA N Elaiyaraja claimed that he was offered ₹35 crore and threatened to influence his vote in a legislative resolution, following which police registered a case and arrested three persons, officials said, news agency ANI reported. Horse-trading allegationsIn his complaint, Elaiyaraja said that a person named Thirunavukkarasu contacted him and claimed to be running an opinion polling organisation called Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), saying he was reaching out at the request of members of a major political party.Also read: Mahua Moitra shares video of egg attack during TMC meeting in Bengal: 'Police watching the fun'He further alleged that Thirunavukkarasu later asked him to vote in a particular manner during a proposed resolution against the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and offered him up to ₹35 crore as inducement, ANI reported. Elaiyaraja said he was threatened after refusing the offer and warned against disclosing the conversation. Three people were arrested following the complaint. They have been identified as Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam, Chennai, along with Naresh of Tiruchirappalli and Thiyagarajan of Medavakkam, Chennai. DMK connection in the horse-trading rowA connection with the DMK, TVK's opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, emerged when probe found that V Ashok Kumar, brother of former DMK minister and current MLA for Coimbatore South V Senthil Balaji, reportedly met the accused Naresh in Chennai. Also read: NEET UG Result 2026 for re-exam to be out soon, evaluation underway: ReportIt was also stated that Thirunavukkarasu acted on instructions allegedly linked to V. Senthil Balaji and V Ashok Kumar.TVK slams DMK Reacting to the development, Tamil Nadu minister P Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday slammed the DMK, saying that for the last 40 days, the opposition party has been trying to poach his party MLAs. He said that former chief minister MK Stalin is unable to digest people's verdict in the recently concluded Assembly polls that ended in Vijay's victory.Also read: ‘My phone goes to Delhi, not Beijing’: US Senator’s China trust jab and big praise for India"We have been saying continuously for the last 40 days that the DMK, Stalin, and his team have been trying to poach our MLAs. A few days ago, one of our MLAs was threatened by DMK members. This was backed by Senthil Balaji and his brother, Ashok. With their support, they allegedly offered around ₹35 crore to one of our MLAs and asked him to vote against TVK when a no-confidence motion against the Speaker is brought. That was their request. When he refused, he was allegedly threatened severely by DMK members. He has filed a complaint along with all the evidence. Based on this, the police have arrested three persons. All three are close aides of Senthil Balaji," Kumar was quoted as saying.He condemned the alleged horse-trading and said that Stalin is not accepting people's verdict, but has joined hands with the AIADMK, and topple the government.