Tamil Nadu: Udhayanidhi Stalin booked for allegedly involving minor in poll campaign for Dharapuram by-election

Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 4 (ANI): Tiruppur District Police on Sunday registered a case against Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin for allegedly involving a minor in an election campaign for the Dharapuram by-election.
According to police, during a campaign meeting near the Periyar statue in Dharapuram town a day earlier, Udhayanidhi made a minor boy get onto a campaign van and made him speak. While speaking, the boy made remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, saying "Om Kali.. Bhadra Kali...".
Police said this violates Election Commission guidelines, which strictly prohibit involving children in any election-related activity. The child was also made to speak in a manner insulting the Chief Minister, police added. 
He campaigned for the second time in the Nochipalayam area of Dharapuram, seeking support for party candidate Suganya.
Addressing the rally, the former Deputy Chief Minister said that although the people had not given the DMK victory in the last election, the party had represented the Dharapuram constituency in the Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2026.
The Dharapuram bypoll, scheduled for October 6 with counting on October 9, was necessitated after AIADMK MLA P Sathyabama resigned in May 2026, just days after winning the seat on an AIADMK ticket in the 2026 Assembly elections. She subsequently joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and is now contesting as the TVK candidate.
Dharapuram is a Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency in Tiruppur district where Scheduled Castes constitute about a quarter of the population.
The bypoll has become a high-stakes battle. TVK has fielded P Sathyabama, DMK has fielded Advocate S Suganya, AIADMK has fielded K Bhanumathi, while CPI's P Lakshmanan and NTK's M Karthika are also in the fray.
The contest is seen as the first major electoral test for CM Vijay's TVK government, which currently does not hold an outright majority and needs to win both Dharapuram and Madurantakam bypolls to strengthen its position. (ANI)