The New Indian Express ·
Minister alleges IUML MLAs were confined, threatened at Chennai hotel to block TVK government
CHENNAI: A fresh row over the formation of the TVK government erupted in the Assembly on Monday after Minorities Welfare Minister AM Shahjahan alleged that the two IUML MLAs were taken to a Chennai hotel, threatened and kept under watch on the night of May 8 to prevent them from backing TVK’s C Joseph Vijay after the poll produced a hung House.
The allegation of attempts to influence MLAs in the days immediately after the election results came during the debate on the demand for grants for the Registration, Forest and Environment departments.
Shahjahan said the IUML, which had contested the 2026 Assembly polls as part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, eventually chose to support Vijay to prevent the formation of a government that, in its view, would be backed by the BJP and function as a “puppet” of the union government.
