Subscribe
Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder-president C Joseph Vijay, on Thursday, August 27, told the Madras High Court that allegations that he used children to influence voters cannot be a ground to cancel his election victory unless there is evidence that the alleged conduct affected the election result.
Vijay made the submission while seeking the dismissal of an election petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate S Inigo Irudayaraj, who has challenged Vijay’s victory in the Tiruchirapalli East constituency in the 2026 Assembly elections.
Irudayaraj has alleged that Vijay violated a February 5, 2024 directive of the Election Commission of India (ECI) by using children during his election campaign.
He has also accused Vijay of withholding information about pending criminal cases against him and failing to provide details of his election expenditure.
The DMK candidate has further alleged that Vijay used children during his campaign to influence their families and secure their votes. In his election petition, Irudayaraj alleged that Vijay had “emotionally targeted” and, to a degree, “blackmailed” children to garner votes from their family members.
Irudayaraj has sought to have Vijay’s election declared void and to be declared the winning candidate. He has also sought a stay on any bye-election in the constituency while his election petition is pending.
Vijay, however, argued that merely alleging that voters were emotionally influenced is not enough to invalidate an election.
“The petitioner further fails to plead the material facts demonstrating how the alleged use of children resulted in any particular number of votes being cast in my favour or otherwise materially affected the result of the election,” Vijay said in his application, according to Live Law xxx.
He also argued that an alleged violation of the ECI directive or the Model Code of Conduct cannot, by itself, be used as grounds to invalidate an election under the Representation of the People Act.
“Merely citing statutory provisions and repeatedly using expressions such as ‘materially affected’, ‘suppressed’, ‘concealed’, and ‘corrupt practice’ does not constitute a cause of action,” his application stated.
Vijay has also denied Irudayaraj’s allegation that he exceeded the permitted election expenditure, arguing that the petition does not provide sufficient details to substantiate the claim. He further argued that expenditure incurred by TVK functionaries cannot be attributed to him as part of his election expenditure.
Irudayaraj had also alleged that Vijay used church worship to gain electoral support. Vijay countered that the petition does not specify the words, communication or representation through which he allegedly invoked religion to influence voters.
Justice V Lakshminarayanan is expected to hear the matter on August 31.
