Udhayanidhi Stalin arrested for ‘misogynist’ remarks; released on bail

Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition and DMK youth wing leader Udhayanidhi Stalin was on Tuesday (August 4, 2026) arrested by police following a complaint registered by a ruling TVK functionary accusing him of making misogynist remarks at a public meeting in Thanjavur a day earlier. Mr. Udhayanidhi was taken to Thanjavur by road and questioned for nearly 90 minutes at the Sengipatti police station before being released on station bail as per a Madras High Court direction at night.

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While DMK cadres protested across the State condemning the arrest, TVK workers staged demonstrations seeking action against the leader for “demeaning” women.

The Thanjavur Town East police arrested Mr. Udhayanidhi from his residence at Neelangarai in Chennai following the registration of an FIR on a complaint from TVK women’s wing office-bearer Bairavi Sankar. She had alleged that the DMK leader had made a highly derogatory and lewd remark in reference to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and a film actor while delivering a public speech in Thanjavur on Monday.

Denying the charges levelled against him, Mr. Udhayanidhi said he did not intend to hurt anyone, especially women, and he did not engage in double entendre as alleged by some. He said that his speech has been misinterpreted out of context for political purposes. He accused the TVK of foisting the case to divert attention from the issues concerning farmers that he has been raising.

The police had registered the FIR for the offences under Sections 61 (criminal conspiracy), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman), 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 296b (uttering obscene words in a public place), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

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The police also invoked Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, since the complainant had claimed that a video clip of the speech was shared by the DMK IT wing on its social media accounts. The FIR had been booked against the DMK IT wing office-bearers too.

Tension in Thanjavur

Earlier, amidst high drama and tension, Mr. Udhayanidhi was brought to Thanjavur. Originally, he was expected to be taken to Thanjavur town for being questioned at the Thanjavur East police station or Thanjavur South police station. However, he was whisked to the Sengipatti police station, situated about 25 km ahead of Thanjavur on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur national highway. The change in plan was apparently due to the tense situation prevailing near Thanjavur South police station where a large number of vociferous DMK cadre had assembled raising slogans condemning the TVK government for arresting their leader.

As soon as news of the police’s change of plan spead, DMK cadre gathered in strength in front of the Sengipatti police station. They were restrained by a strong posse of police personnel. Mr. Udhayanidhi, who remained in the van for some time, got down and waved with smile to the restive cadre before going inside the police station around 6.45 p.m.

Senior police officers – including V. Balakrishnan, Inspector General of Police, Central Zone – soon arrived at the station before Mr. Udhayanidhi went in for questioning.

Earlier, during the hearing of his anticipatory bail petition in the Madras High Court, Advocate General (A-G) Vijay Narayan submitted that the police did not intend to remand him in judicial custody and he would be let off on station bail after being questioned. Recording the A-G’s submission, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan disposed of the petition with a direction to the police to release him on station bail by the end of the day. The judge directed Mr. Udhayanidhi to cooperate with the investigation and appear for inquiry whenever he is summoned.

Cadre confronts police

In the morning, tension prevailed outside Mr. Udhayanidhi’s residence as a large number of DMK workers gathered on hearing about the arrival of the police. His wife Kiruthiga and former Minister Ma Subramanian were engaged in an argument with a senior police officer. Mr. Subramanian was heard saying that the DMK leader must be given time to refresh himself before he was taken to Thanjavur.

Several senior leaders, including party general secretary Duraimurugan, former Ministers K. N. Nehru and P. K. Sekarbabu, and Mr. Udhayanidhi’s brother-in-law Sabarisan along with party lawyers arrived to lend solidarity. They were heard telling the police that since the High Court had agreed to urgently hear Mr. Udhayanidhi’s anticipatory bail petition and the judge had orally directed the police not to take coercive action, they must abide by it. However, a senior police officer told them he had not received any such instructions from the government counsel.

Subsequently, Mr. Udhayanidhi was taken to a police van waiting outside the house. The DMK men opposed the arrest and attempted to stop the police from taking their leader away. The cadres squatted on the road blocking the police vehicle but police cleared the road using mild force and proceeded on ECR towards Thanjavur.