சட்டப்பேரவையில் அதிமுகவின் ஜனநாயகப் படுகொலையைக் கண்டித்து இன்று திருச்சியில் உண்ணாவிரதம் மேற்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். #Peoplesvoice https://t.co/6bv1AWEJHn

DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin observed an intensive day-long hunger strike in Tiruchirappalli on February 22, 2017, leading thousands of party workers and civil society activists in peaceful protest against the murder of legislative democracy orchestrated by the ruling AIADMK during the assembly confidence motion. Addressing fasting volunteers, Stalin recounted the high-handed eviction of opposition legislators from the assembly chamber, emphasizing that passing a trust vote in the forced absence of the primary opposition represented a dark stain on Tamil Nadu's parliamentary history.

Stalin chose Tiruchirappalli, the traditional heartland of the Dravidian movement, to sound the clarion call for statewide democratic resistance. He reiterated that the DMK's demand was straightforward and constitutionally sound: conducting the vote of confidence through a secret ballot so that legislators could vote according to their conscience free from physical coercion and resort confinement. The ruling faction's desperate refusal to permit a transparent voting mechanism proved that the administration lacks authentic legislative majority and moral credibility.

The opposition leader vowed to carry the democratic crusade to every village and town across Tamil Nadu. He pledged that the DMK would never permit parliamentary conventions to be dismantled by corrupt political factions.