DMK Supremo and former Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin on Saturday took a swipe at the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in the state over recurring power cuts, claiming that power outages have now affected even ministers while they were addressing public events.

He took a jibe at the state’s sitting Chief Minister (CM) C Joseph Vijay, questioning the government’s handling of the power situation and mocked the latter’s recent inspection of the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) headquarters.

Stalin sheds light on power cuts during public events

Stalin posted on social media on Saturday that if ministers in the TVK government were themselves facing power outages during official programmes, the difficulties faced by the general public required little explanation. He alleged that a power cut ensued while the state’s Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar was attending an event in Madurai. Furthermore, he reflected upon a similar disruption during a programme in Thanjavur where Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan was addressing the gathering.

However, Viswanathan, as per media reports, continued his address despite the blackout, and the power was restored later.

Stalin then shared a card on social media, which showed television reports concerning power outages during programmes attended by ministers. His post claimed that similar disruptions were reported during events involving Ministers K A Sengottaiyan, Aadhav Arjuna and V Gandhiraj. Separate reports have also documented outages affecting events where Aadhav Arjuna and Sengottaiyan were present, following CM Vijay’s inspection of the power situation.

Jibe at Vijay’s TNPDCL inspection

Stalin also took aim at CM Vijay over his September 23 visit to the TNPDCL headquarters, where the latter had taken stock of the state’s electricity situation amid complaints of frequent and unannounced outages.

As per reports, officials briefed Vijay on power demand, availability, the distribution network, transformer failures, maintenance and monsoon preparedness. However, Stalin claimed that instead of addressing the problem, Vijay appeared to have ‘recorded reels for social media.’

The DMK leader termed the administration a ‘reels regime’, echoing a phrase used by the Opposition to criticise the TVK government’s tactic of public messaging and social media presence.

Power cuts emerge as a major political flashpoint

Stalin’s criticism has come to the fore amid reports of electricity disruptions at several public programmes across the South-Indian state. The issue has increasingly emerged as a point of political contention, and Opposition leaders are questioning the government’s response to the outages.

With power supply emerging as a recurring political issue in the state, the exchange of barbs between Stalin and Vijay adds another layer to the ongoing confrontation between the DMK and the TVK.