Udhayanidhi Stalin Visits Jailed DMK MLA Markandeyan

Tamil Nadu Assembly Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin visited jailed DMK MLA G.V. Markandeyan at the Palayamkottai Central Prison on Monday, strongly criticizing the ruling government over the legislator's arrest. In a post on X after the meeting, Udhayanidhi alleged that the arrest was politically motivated and said Markandeyan remained committed to serving the party and the people despite being in prison. He also assured that the DMK's legal team, under the guidance of party president M.K. Stalin, was taking all necessary legal steps to secure the MLA's release.

Escalating his attack on the government, Udhayanidhi described the present administration as a "Sofa Model" government and accused it of using arrests to suppress dissent and silence political opponents. He asserted that the DMK had withstood the Emergency and MISA era and would not be intimidated by such actions. Markandeyan, the DMK MLA from Vilathikulam, was arrested last week over remarks allegedly made against Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay during a public meeting. While the DMK has termed the arrest an attempt to curb democratic voices, the police maintain that the case is based on allegedly threatening and defamatory statements.