At his Dharapuram rally on 30 Sep 2026, CM Vijay listed the TVK government’s record — including a new insurance scheme for 38 lakh seniors — projects for Tiruppur, and Dharapuram’s pending needs.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay campaigned in Dharapuram on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, for TVK candidate P. Sathyabama ahead of the October 6 by-election. Addressing a public meeting at Chithravuthanpalayam on the Dharapuram–Udumalpet Road at about 4 PM, he set out the TVK government’s record across the state, listed the projects taken up for Tiruppur district, and named the long-pending needs of Dharapuram that he said the government would address.
Vijay opened by greeting the crowd as the “gold of the Kongu land” and the “lions of the Kongu land”, and repeated what he had said at Madurantakam — that he had not come as Chief Minister, but as the family’s son, brother and “your Vijay”. This time he added that he had come as their thaimaman, the maternal uncle — a nod to the Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram gold ring scheme launched two days earlier (Minnambalam). He said the TVK government had, in a short time, begun delivering its promises step by step, beginning with administration free of corruption and bribery.
| Area | What the CM said has been done |
|---|---|
| TASMAC | 717 liquor shops near schools and places of worship closed |
| Electricity | 200 units of free power for households |
| Women’s safety | Singappen special task force set up, with 2,546 new posts |
| Drugs | 65 anti-narcotics units across 37 districts and 9 cities |
| Education | Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme extended to Classes 6–8 |
| Farmers | Crop loans of 13 lakh farmers waived; paddy procurement at ₹2,750 a quintal for fine varieties and ₹2,600 for common varieties; milk procurement price up by ₹6 a litre |
| Newborns | Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram gold rings from September 28 |
| Women’s travel | Vettri Payanam free travel statewide from October 2 |
| Cooking gas | Annapoorani Super Six — 3 cylinders a year from Pongal |
| Health | CMCHIS family cover raised from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh; a new Chief Minister’s Senior Citizens Insurance scheme for about 38 lakh people above 70, with no income ceiling — a first for Tamil Nadu |
| Food | 630 Amma Unavagams renovated and reopened |
| Women entrepreneurs | Singappen loan scheme announced |
| Urban roads | ₹1,850 crore of urban road and transport works, first phase started |
| Investment | Steps to attract ₹1 lakh crore of investment and create 1,06,998 jobs in the first 100 days |
Describing Tiruppur as India’s knitwear capital, employing more than six lakh people, the Chief Minister listed the steps taken for the district:
| Project | Status |
|---|---|
| 11% import duty on cotton removed after the CM wrote to the Prime Minister, keeping textile exports running | Done |
| A separate Tamil Nadu Knitwear Board | Being set up |
| Four global buyer–seller meets a year to grow textile exports | Announced |
| New seed storage godown at Madathukulam | Under way |
| Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital — extra floors, a new mother-and-child block, student hostel, neonatal and maternal care units, modern equipment, nutrition rehabilitation and respiratory centres (about ₹72 crore) | Under way |
| Park development at the Thirumoorthy dam | Under way |
| A modern swimming pool for the district | Work started |
| A ₹30 crore biosafety laboratory to detect diseases in poultry farms | Under way |
The Chief Minister said that even decades after Independence, and despite being next to Tiruppur city, the constituency still lacked basic infrastructure. He named the issues the government had taken note of:
“This is a government for the people,” he said, asking voters to back TVK so that these needs could be met.
Restating TVK’s position on faith, Vijay said the party follows a secular approach and respects all religions (DT Next). Dinamani’s report of the speech quoted him going further: not only is every religion acceptable — every religion is our religion. He said his government was not opposed to anyone’s belief in God and that people’s faith must be respected.
Answering the opposition’s “horse-trading” charge over the former AIADMK MLAs who joined TVK, he asked why a party with the people’s support would need such shortcuts (DT Next) — this is his campaign argument, reported as such.
Vijay said Sathyabama had not come to TVK while still an MLA — she had resigned first — and appealed to voters to elect her. Invoking the way people voted for MGR and Jayalalithaa without regard to caste, he asked them to vote for TVK in the same spirit (ETV Bharat, Kumudam). Sathyabama, who spoke before him, presented the Chief Minister with a Kangayam bull, the famous native breed of the region. During her own speech she broke down while speaking about the online attacks she had faced since joining TVK, and the Chief Minister comforted her — read the full story. Former AIADMK minister S. Semmalai joined TVK in his presence at the venue.
Sources: Minnambalam (speech text), ETV Bharat, Kalki Online, Kumudam, Dinakaran, Nakkheeran, DT Next, Dinamani, PTI.
By-Election Dharapuram Tiruppur Day 143