Three arrested for attempting to bribe MLA during no-confidence motion in Tamil Nadu

According to a report by The Hindu, the Triplicane police in Chennai have arrested three individuals for attempting to bribe a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) during a no-confidence motion to be brought against the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. In this matter, N. Eliya Raja, the MLA from Uthangurai representing the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, had filed a complaint with the Police Commissioner. According to the complaint, the accused offered him an amount of up to ₹35 crore to behave in a specific manner during the voting in the Assembly.

Providing details of the incident, police officials stated that a 45-year-old individual named Thirunavukkarasu, a resident of Arumbakkam, contacted the MLA. He claimed to run an opinion polling firm called 'Indian Political Democratic Strategists' (IPDS) and expressed a desire to meet the MLA in person at the behest of members of a major political party. However, MLA Eliya Raja ended the call, stating that he was busy with other work. Subsequently, Thirunavukkarasu contacted him again and lured him with ₹35 crore to vote in his favour in the no-confidence motion.

When the MLA explicitly rejected this proposal and told him not to call again, the accused threatened him and his family with serious consequences. Following this threat, the MLA submitted a written complaint to the Chennai City Police Commissioner on June 29, 2026, demanding legal action. Based on this complaint, the Triplicane police registered a case and arrested the main accused Thirunavukkarasu, along with Naresh from Trichy and Tyagarajan from Medavakkam, who were active behind the scenes in this entire conspiracy.

Another important detail has emerged during the police investigation. It has been revealed that V. Ashok Kumar, brother of former DMK minister and current Coimbatore South MLA V. Senthilbalaji, had met the accused Naresh in Chennai. The police are further investigating this direction to ascertain who else is responsible for this bribery attempt and who is involved in this conspiracy.

MLA N. Eliya Raja represents the Uthangurai constituency. This incident has caused political heat as it surfaced amidst discussions of bringing a no-confidence motion against the Speaker in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Previously, there have been allegations of such attempts to change power equations between various parties in the state's politics, but in this case, the entire conspiracy was exposed due to the alertness of the MLA.