DMK slams CM Vijay for ‘cheap political mileage’ over book scam charge

Chennai: The DMK on Friday hit back at Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for alleging a multi-crore book procurement scam during the previous DMK regime, accusing him of trying to gain “cheap political mileage”. The party said the CM was issuing empty statements instead of using his official powers to audit the procurement files and establish the truth.

“The CM has joined his party’s School Education Minister A Rajmohan and a band of ‘virtual abusers’ to fling mud at the DMK,” former state minister Govi Chezhiaan said in a statement. Responding to Vijay’s allegation of a scam in procuring books for the newly inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam Library in Coimbatore, Chezhiaan called for an independent probe, in addition to an official audit.

He said the DMK suspected a political conspiracy to deliberately deface the previous government’s flagship projects. “The DMK stands firm that legal action must be taken against anyone found to be involved in the irregularities,” he said. He added that writer Perumal Murugan, who exposed the error-ridden books, had himself been appointed by the DMK to the committee that selected the books. Vijay said that there was corruption in the procurement of books for Periyar Knowledge World (Periyar Arivulagam) in Coimbatore during the DMK regime. He said writer Perumal Murugan had “exposed” it and deserved to be commended. Calling the DMK the “fountainhead of corruption”, the CM alleged it was “always a crowd of graft”.

He ridiculed the party, saying a group that claims to be the guardian of the Tamil language, soil and dignity, and makes tall claims to deceive people, would always be a “crowd of corruption”. The book procurement for Periyar Arivulagam, he alleged, was an example of this. He said a committee to recommend books for new libraries was constituted during the DMK regime, and a Government Order was issued

on November 5, 2025.

“Perumal Murugan, who served on a committee responsible for recommending books, including modern literature, has himself brought to light the corruption involved in the procurement of books for Periyar Arivulagam. He must be praised for uncovering the very source of this corruption,” Vijay said. The DMK leadership has claimed it built Periyar Knowledge World after much scrutiny, but

“the world now mocks it for meticulous graft in procurement”, he alleged.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India