'TVK MLA Was Offered Rs 35 Cr To Favour DMK's No Confidence Motion Against Speaker'; TN Police Arrest Senthil Balaji's Aides
The former Minister's aide threatened the MLA with dire consequences if he revealed the conversation offering inducements to favour the Opposition's resolution in the House.
Published : July 1, 2026 at 6:18 PM IST
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Police have arrested a trio that offered a bribe of Rs 35 crore to a ruling-TVK party MLA, N Elaiyaraja, insisting him to back a no confidence motion moved against state Legislative Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar, on Tuesday.
The arrest triggered a sharp response from a ruling party minister.
Minister for Energy Resources and Law CTR Nirmal Kumar accused the DMK and the AIADMK of continuing the expansion of their attempts to form a government with the blessings of the BJP, citing the devlopment. He said the arrested trio who offered tens of crores to several TVK MLAs to bring down Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's government.
Police identified the trio as Thirunavukkarasu, resident of Arumbakkam, Naresh, resident of Thiruchirpapalli, and Thiyagarajan, resident of Medavakkam.
A senior police official told ETV Bharat Thirunavukkarasu and Naresh were aides of former DMK Minister V Senthil Balaji who has now won from Coimbatore South Assembly segment.
According to police, Thirunavukkarasu contacted the Uthangarai MLA, claiming to be chief of a political survey organisation named Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS). He sought time for a personal meeting. The legislator, police said, informed the caller that he would not be able to find time due to prior engagements and disconnected the call.
Thirunavukkarasu contacted the MLA again and informed him that a "major political party" he was representing wanted the legislator's "cooperation" as they were planning to move a no confidence motion in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly(TNLA) against the Speaker. The legislator was asked to support the said resolution without regarding his affiliation with the ruling party, another senior official privy to the police investigation said.
During the call, the MLA was offered a reward of Rs 35 crore for the proposed "cooperation".
The MLA refused the proposal and declined the offer to support an Opposition's resolution against his own ruling dispensation. He also told the caller not to contact him again in future. Enraged by the MLA's response, Thirunavukkarasu threatened the lawmaker and his family with dire consequences if he chose to disclose the conversation with anyone, the official added.
Police, in a statement, said the MLA has preferred a complaint with City Police Commissioner(Greater Chennai Police) A Amalraj on Monday(May 29,2026). Elaiyaraja's complaint said Thirunavukkarasu attempted to bribe him to discharge his duty as a public representative in a manner which would serve the interest of the "major political party". The complaint also detailed the alleged threats received by the legislator and his family during the conversation. It urged the police to take legal action against the individual and his handlers from behind the screens.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the former minister's brother V Ashok Kumar visited Chennai, where he met Naresh. It was also learnt that Thirunavukkarasu contacted MLA and carried out the alleged acts on the instructions of the DMK strongman and his brother, Senthil Balaji.
Speaking to the media persons from the State Secretariat, the minister from the TVK government alleged that both the Dravidian parties have been locked in hectic parleys since the Assembly election results started trickling out. They still have the backing of the BJP and are taking desperate measures to prevent the TVK from coming to power.
He said the TVK legislators were being offered Rs 20 crores or 30 crores.
He accused the DMK patriarch MK Stalin and the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami of taking steps to stay in a united front in order to protect their families and assets and to cater to their self-serving interests.
He also urged Stalin to take ownership for the electoral defeat and step down from active politics.
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