Tamil Nadu Today: Ammonia gas leak toll rises to nine
1. CM Vijay’s ‘party funds’ remark: TVK, DMK engage in heated debate in Assembly A heated debate unfolded on the last day of this session
1. CM Vijay’s ‘party funds’ remark: TVK, DMK engage in heated debate in Assembly A heated debate unfolded on the last day of this session in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly today (June 23, 2026) between MLAs of the ruling TVK and the principal Opposition DMK over Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s remarks on the alleged siphoning of money in the name of “party funds” during the previous regime. Replying to the Motion of Thanks to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar’s address to the House, Mr. Vijay launched a political attack on the previous DMK government. “If administrative efficiency means committing one act of corruption after another and then escaping accountability, this government will never indulge in such corrupt administrative practices.
The money looted in TASMAC in the name of party funds is now being brought back to the government treasury,” he said. Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and DMK MLAs strongly objected to the Chief Minister’s remarks on “party funds”. All the DMK MLAs rose from their seats and raised slogans. While the Chief Minister was speaking, DMK MLAs later staged a walkout. 2. Tiruvallur ammonia gas leak: death toll climbs to nine Another woman, Anjila Soren from Assam, has died after the Sunday’s ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing and export facility in Tiruvallur district, taking the death toll to nine today (June 23, 2026).
All nine victims were women workers from Odisha and Assam. A total of 69 persons are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals, according to a media bulletin issued by the Health department. 3. Thirupparankundram row: TVK government moves Supreme Court The TVK-led Tamil Nadu government headed by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has moved the Supreme Court challenging orders passed by the Madras High Court on lighting of a lamp at a stone pillar near a dargah on the Thirupparankundram hill. The High Court’s Division Bench had, in early January this year, confirmed a previous Single Judge Bench order directing the Subramaniya Swamy Temple management in Thirupparankundram to light the Karthigai Deepam at the ‘deepathoon’ (stone pillar) atop the hill, besides the usual places.
The previous DMK regime in the State had been unable to convince the court that the lighting of the lamp may stir the hornet’s nest and lead to public disturbances. The Single Judge had dismissed the apprehensions of the State as an “imaginary ghost”. The Bench had remarked that such a turn of events would happen only with the State’s blessings, and not otherwise.
The BriefWire