Three arrested in Chennai for allegedly trying to bribe and poach TVK MLAs

The Tamil Nadu Police on Wednesday arrested three men and detained four others in Chennai on charges of attempting to bribe and poach at least 15 TVK MLAs. The suspects allegedly tried to buy over the legislators to vote against Assembly Speaker J C D Prabhakar in a planned no-confidence motion. The incident has triggered a major political storm, with the ruling TVK and the opposition DMK trading mutual horse-trading accusations.

The case came to light after TVK Uthangarai MLA N Ilayaraja lodged a complaint. According to Ilayaraja, a Chennai resident named Thirunavukkarasu promised him a bribe of ₹35 crore to vote against Speaker Prabhakar during the planned no-confidence motion.

Following the complaint, the police arrested Thirunavukkarasu, alongside Naresh from Trichy and Thiagarajan from Chennai, on charges of inducement. The police also detained four other men for allegedly plotting to poach at least 15 TVK legislators.

According to a police statement, Thirunavukkarasu met the TVK MLA on behalf of former DMK minister V Senthilbalaji and his brother V Ashok Kumar. During this meeting, Thirunavukkarasu allegedly warned the MLA and his family against telling anyone about the ongoing negotiations. The police statement further noted that the other accused, Naresh, had met Senthilbalaji's brother, V Ashok Kumar, in Chennai.

The ruling TVK has accused Senthilbalaji of attempting to topple the TVK government, which is led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.

Meanwhile, the opposition DMK has filed complaints with Governor R V Arlekar and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The DMK alleged that Chief Minister Vijay and MDMK leader Vaiko conspired to poach two DMK MLAs, sparking further political tensions between the two major political camps in the state.