Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Transfer Chief Secretary, DGP, and nine officers: Vijay to CEO

Chennai: Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on Saturday sought the immediate transfer of 11 senior bureaucrats and police officers, including the Chief Secretary, and Director General of Police, to ensure “free, fair, and level playing field” in the April 23 assembly elections.

In a detailed petition submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik, the actor-politician alleged that officers were engaging in clandestine coordination to favour ruling party functionaries.

Vijay drove to the Secretariat on Saturday afternoon to meet Patnaik and seek the transfer of key officials. On Thursday, he had visited the DGP office to file a complaint against an activist who had made derogatory comments about women fans of the actor.

Saturday’s development came after permission was refused for Vijay’s campaign in Perambur, where he is likely to contest the elections. TVK alleges that permission was being deliberately denied for party’s campaign events but officials insisted that they can only permit events if permission for them are applied through proper channels.

Vijay sought the transfer of Director General of Police (DGP), Chennai Police Commissioner, ADGP (Law & Order), IG/ADGP (Intelligence), and DG/ADGP, Armed Police. On the administrative side, the actor-politician sought the transfer of Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Secretary (Public), Secretary-1 to the CM, Finance Secretary, and Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner.

The representation alleges that these officials hold significant influence over law enforcement, administrative coordination, and fund allocation and therefore calls for their replacement to ensure a level playing field during the Model Code of Conduct period.

It said there exists a serious, credible, and widespread apprehension that administrative machinery is being used selectively, opposition parties are being denied equal campaign opportunities, law & order mechanisms are not being applied uniformly, and field officers are functioning under pressure.

The petition added that credible inputs indicate that certain officers are allegedly engaging in clandestine coordination to favour ruling party functionaries, facilitating distribution of benefits during the MCC period, exercising undue pressure on field-level officers, and maintaining control over deployment and postings of pliable officers.