DMK MLA Anitha Radhakrishnan Arrested Over Remarks Against Tamil Nadu CM Vijay, Stalin Cries 'Police Regime'

DMK MLA Anitha Radhakrishnan, a former Tamil Nadu minister, was arrested by police for making remarks deemed objectionable against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, triggering one of the sharpest confrontations yet between the ruling TVK and the principal opposition DMK. The Madras High Court, in refusing her anticipatory bail, observed that the Chief Minister must be accorded respect — a ruling that DMK leaders have fiercely contested.

DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin came out swinging against the arrest, labelling it evidence of a 'police regime' and accusing CM Vijay's government of using law enforcement to silence political opposition. Stalin's broadside reflects the DMK's strategy of casting the TVK administration as authoritarian, a charge that is gaining traction in opposition circles across the state.

The arrest comes as a separate bribery scandal also rattles Tamil Nadu politics. Chennai Police arrested 5 more people in connection with a Rs 35-crore bribery probe involving a TVK MLA, suggesting that graft allegations are flowing in multiple directions even as the political temperature rises.

For everyday Tamil Nadu residents, the dual controversies — an opposition MLA jailed over speech and a ruling-party legislator linked to a major bribery case — paint a turbulent picture of the state's political landscape. Both episodes are expected to feature heavily in the Monsoon Session of Parliament and in the state assembly, where both parties will seek to score political points.