'Attempt at political horse-trading' | Tamil Nadu MLA claims Rs 35 crore bribe offer, 3 arrested

An alleged attempt at political horse-trading has surfaced in Tamil Nadu after MLA N Elaiyaraja claimed that he was offered Rs 35 crore and threatened to influence his vote in a legislative resolution, following which police registered a case and arrested three persons, officials said on Wednesday. According to the complaint filed on June 29 with the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, Elaiyaraja stated that a person named Thirunavukkarasu contacted him and claimed to be running an opinion polling organisation called Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), saying he was reaching out at the request of members of a major political party.

The complainant alleged that Thirunavukkarasu later asked him to vote in a particular manner during a proposed resolution against the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and offered him up to Rs 35 crore as inducement. Elaiyaraja further alleged that he was threatened after refusing the offer and warned against disclosing the conversation. Following the complaint, a case was registered at the D1 Triplicane Police Station. Police arrested Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam, Chennai, along with Naresh of Tiruchirappalli and Thiyagarajan of Medavakkam, Chennai, who were allegedly involved in the conspiracy.

Further investigation, as per the complaint, revealed that V Ashok Kumar, brother of former DMK minister and current MLA for Coimbatore South V Senthil Balaji, had met the accused Naresh in Chennai. It was also stated that Thirunavukkarasu acted on instructions allegedly linked to V. Senthil Balaji and V Ashok Kumar. Police said the investigation into the case is ongoing. The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections marked a historic shift in state politics as TVK won 108 seats in its debut election, ending the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK formations. Following the Victory, Vijay assumed charge at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai shortly after taking the oath as the 13th Chief Minister of the state.