Six months in office, Vijay faces a test of how far he can go against his own MLAs

Six months into office, District Collector C Joseph Vijay faces a test as to how far he can go against his own MLAs. In Kallakurichi, the collector herself has been accused of filing a formal complaint with the Chief Secretary against ruling party MLA C Arul Vignesh. Vignesh denies all allegations of sending obscene messages and harassing the collector.

Congress MP Jothimani claims that the collector has filed a complaint, but it remains unconfirmed. The complaint began in Thuraiyur with a shortage of drinking water and uncollected garbage. A resident, Karthik Kumar, reported his grievances to MLA M Ravishankar, who allegedly slapped and kicked Kumar. Ravishankar is the deputy speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The incident echoes similar accusations from previous DMK and AIADMK rule, where ruling-party legislators were accused of abusing their power. The ruling party, TVK, is conducting an internal inquiry into both cases but has not yet announced any disciplinary action against the MLAs. If the allegations against Ravishankar are substantiated, the party leadership is considering asking him to relinquish his deputy speaker post.

Removing him would require a resolution under Article 179(c) of the Constitution, with the support of a majority of all members of the Assembly. The video showing the alleged assault is dark, making it difficult to identify the individuals involved. Kumar claims he was the man being assaulted and identifies Ravishankar as the perpetrator.

He alleges that RVishankar and a police inspector forced him to record a denial under threat to himself and his family. The police claim they received no complaint about the assault. Meanwhile, opposition parties accuse TVK of trying to silence Kumar and demand an impartial investigation into the alleged assault and coercion.