Chief Minister K Joseph Vijay “blackmailed” children by urging them to convince adults in their families to vote for his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party, election petitioners R D Shekar and S Inigo Irudayarai of the DMK, who lost to him in the Perambur and Tiruchi East Assembly constituencies respectively, have alleged in the Madras High Court.
Listing the identical grounds on which they filed separate election petitions challenging the Chief Minister’s victory in both the constituencies this year, the petitioners said, “The first respondent (Mr. Vijay) through his speeches emotionally targeted and to some extent even blackmailed vulnerable children and impressionable minds to get votes from their family members.”
They produced before the court a DVD containing a video clip of the address made by the Chief Minister during his last election speech at the YMCA grounds in Chennai on April 21, 2026 and said, “This kind of emotional appeal to children and involving them in election activities is not only immoral but is also against the spirit of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Constitution.”
Justice V Lakshminarayan on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) ordered notice to the Chief Minister in both the election petitions after hearing preliminary submissions made by senior advocate P Wilson against the two petitioners who alleged that children were also involved in election campaign activities by forcing them to wear TVK silencers around their necks and also hold pamphlets, posters and handbills.
Referring to the Election Commission of India (ECI) directive dated February 5, 2024 against the use of children in election campaigns/rallies, the petitioners submitted that the “systematic involvement of children in his election campaign activities by the 1st respondent” is contrary to such directive and, therefore, the court should declare his victory null and void for allegedly violating the instructions of the commission.
Other grounds cited in the two election petitions were the Chief Minister’s alleged failure to fully disclose his election expenditure after the elections, reported inaccuracies in the information provided in the election affidavit regarding his assets and liabilities, campaigning at religious places in violation of the model code of conduct and so on.
The petitioners stated that composer S. Thaman composed the TCE flag anthem, election anthem and whistle anthem, which were widely used in the campaigning, but the expenses incurred on them were not disclosed at all. They said the composer would not have charged less than Rs 10 lakh for his services and alleged that election expenses were hidden.
“Expenditure exceeding the limit of Rs 40 lakh prescribed by the Election Commission of India is a violation of Section 77(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and also a corrupt practice under Section 123(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the petitioners said. They argued that such excessive spending harmed their chances of winning elections in two constituencies.
The court was also told that the Chief Minister in Part A of his election affidavit had disclosed income tax amounting to ₹3.44 crore for different financial years, but in Part B of the same affidavit, he claimed that he did not have any debts with the government.
“This is an important material concealment because Part B of Form 26 is a summary provided by the Returning Officer to the Voters through his office as well as on the website and a voter reading this passage would be led to believe that the first respondent does not owe any debt to the State,” the petitioners said.
They also told the court that the Chief Minister “organized a campaign at St. Anthony’s Church on April 19, 2026” and added that “the conduct of the first respondent cannot be said to be an act of private prayer as the first respondent wore a scarf in TBC party colors and also gathered the media and his supporters outside the church.”
The petitioners therefore urged the court to quash the election of Mr. Vijay from both the constituencies and instead declare him elected from those constituencies. As the Chief Minister resigned from the Tiruchi East constituency, Mr. Irudayaraj also sought an interim injunction restraining the ECI from holding a by-election in the constituency pending consideration of his election petition.
Apart from the competitors, two voters S. Dinesh and T.N. Lakshmi Narasimhan from Perambur constituency has also filed individual election petitions challenging the Chief Minister’s victory from that constituency and the judge has also ordered notice in these petitions. Mr. Vijay polled 1,20,365 votes against 53,715 votes received by Mr. Shekar and won from Perambur by a margin of 53,715 votes.
Likewise, he polled 91,381 votes against 63,965 votes received by Mr. Irudayaraj and won Tiruchi East by a margin of 27,416 votes. He subsequently resigned from the Tiruchi East Assembly seat and retained Perambur.
Published – Jul 8, 2026 01:26 EST.