Protesters arrested for lacking permission, not for anti-CEC stance: Nirmal Kumar

Minister for Energy Resources and Law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar clarified that the arrests of protesters demonstrating against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar occurred because they lacked prior permission and failed to assemble at designated protest sites.

Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Saturday, he explained that the allocation of specific protest locations was not introduced by the current TVK administration, but rather inherited from the previous DMK government, which established the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and designated sites.

Stating that the TVK government has no objection to public demonstrations against the CEC or the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)—having already opposed the SIR politically—he dismissed criticism from Opposition leaders.

“Did Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who now accuse TVK of being subservient to the BJP, ever oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his visits to Tamil Nadu? when the DMK was in power. The duo, who remained silent during their tenure, are now targeting us—a party that has consistently declared the BJP as our ideological enemy,” he remarked.

Addressing queries regarding why TVK did not support the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest against the CEC, Mr. Nirmal Kumar questioned how a ruling party could participate in agitations organised by groups with fundamentally different political stances.

Pointing out ideological gaps, he noted that while the CJP merely advocated for a fair NEET examination, TVK has vehemently demanded a total ban on the exam itself. Given these stark differences, he asked how such an alliance could be expected.

Taking a swipe at the AIADMK, the Minister claimed the party is nearing its political demise. He attributed its rapid loss of traditional support bases to the leadership of former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

Pointing to recent electoral trends, he added that even in its own strongholds, the AIADMK was pushed to the third position behind the DMK.