As perception battle rages amid poll heat, DMK on a tightrope walk on law & order

GIVEN that maintenance of law and order and controlling crime is a politically sensitive topic in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin's data-backed assertion of the state recording the lowest number of murders in a decade in 2024 is to keep naysayers at bay.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai

However, Stalin, also the state's home minister and an experienced politician, will know that the perception war is built on the magnification of individual incidents, rather than comparison of yearly statistics. For the DMK, this can be an Achilles heel as the law-and-order issues are routinely cited as a reason for the party's electoral drubbing in 2011 after a five-year reign.

Official data show that murders, the most important indicator of law and order, came down by 7% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Top cops, including DGP Shankar Jiwal, Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun and Avadi Police Commissioner K Shankar, have given the credit to a policy of monitoring history-sheeters through an exclusive mobile app to prevent targeted killings. Administrative heads have also focused on securing more convictions of history-sheeters by building strong cases in court.