Chennai, Oct 21:
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator Seeman on Tuesday accused the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government of using the police to target political opponents, alleging that cases were being foisted on his party functionaries out of political vendetta.
Seeman condemned the arrest of NTK functionaries, including Dharapuram Assembly by-election candidate M Karthika and her husband, Murugachandrakumar. He alleged that their arrests were linked to a protest organised by Karthika and other party cadres along the route taken by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay during his roadshow on the final day of campaigning for the Dharapuram by-election. The protest was reportedly held after the party was denied permission to campaign at the location. Seeman described the arrests of seven NTK functionaries as political repression and accused the government of misusing the police instead of addressing law and order issues.
The NTK leader also questioned the government’s response to other allegations involving ruling party functionaries, including a major narcotics seizure in Nagapattinam, a sexual harassment allegation against a party district secretary in Ranipet and an attack on journalists involving a sitting MLA. He accused the police of acting selectively against opposition members and criticised Vijay for allegedly repeating the mistakes of previous Dravidian governments. Seeman demanded the immediate release of Karthika, her husband and the other arrested functionaries, warning that his party would not be intimidated by police action. The allegations of political vendetta have not been independently established.