It seems DMK ministers and seniors are vying with each other to prove their prowess, muscle power, mighty on party cadre in full public galore, to prove their performance and to show they still retain the skills which they had learnt and become adept during their initial days in the party.
In the latest incident at Thalaivasal in Salem, when a DMK cadre attempted to shake hands with Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK Minister and senior party leader KN Nehru became enraged. Party workers were all standing on the dais, and cadres queued up to greet Udhayanidhi Stalin.
According to a video that went viral on social media, Minister Nehru grabbed the party worker’s hands and hit him behind the head. The same treatment was meted out to a few more DMK cadres also by Nehru when they attempted to get close to Udhayanidhi Stalin. His behaviour reminded the way the bouncer’s function. Roughing up cadres by the DMK seniors is not new, and it is part and parcel of their party work.
BJP State chief K. Annamalai in a tweet, said, “Looks like the DMK Ministers have taken a pledge to beat up people. A Minister throwing stones a few days back and another is roughing up people now. Request the Chief Minister to provide protective equipment to keep us safe”.
Earlier on January 10, a video surfaced on social media showing DMK Minister KN Nehru slapping a DMK ward councillor on the head during a Government welfare programme in Trichy.
BJP State executive meeting held in Cuddalore on January 20 adopted a resolution against Chief Minister MK Stalin, DMK Organisation Secretary RS Bharathi and platform speaker Sivaji Krishnamurthy for their disrespectful remarks against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. It said, “While Stalin had derogatorily referred to the Governor in the ‘singular’, former Rajya Sabha member RS Bharathi had noted that ‘North Indians sell panipuri in Tamil Nadu, Governor is like one of them. DMK party speaker ‘Krishnamurthy had said that a terrorist should be sent to kill the Governor.
Only very recently, another DMK Minister for Milk and Dairy Development, SM Nasar, was caught on camera losing his cool and throwing a stone (maybe a pebble or clod) at a party worker, allegedly over a delay in bringing chairs for him at a Tiruvallur event.
In July last, a video clip of politician KKSSR Ramachandran, also known as Sattur Ramachandran, allegedly hitting a woman on her head with a petition went viral. Tamil Nadu BJP Chief, Annamalai, demanded DMK Minister Ramachandran’s resignation after tweeting a video of him hitting a woman with a piece of paper in Virudhunagar.
“Two DMK youth wing functionaries molested a police constable on protection duty in a public meeting in which MPs Kanimozhi and Tamizhachi Thangapandian participated in the first week of January in Chennai,” Annamalai tweeted and criticised the Chief Minister that he remained a silent spectator to such incidents.
Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami condemned Chief Minister M K Stalin, who holds the home department portfolio, for failing to ensure the safety of a woman police on duty, who the DMK functionaries reportedly harassed at their party’s public meeting.
A woman was manhandled by DMK cadre during a Gram Sabha meeting of MK Stalin. The incident happened in Devarayapuram in Thondamuthur when the woman identified as Poongudi – AIADMK women’s wing president, in January 2021.
When Governor RN Ravi was forced to walk out of the State Assembly after a resolution was moved against him, senior party leader and Education Minister K Ponmudi waved his hand (meaning go). They used singular forms while sitting in the House. At a public meeting, he introduced a woman by her caste (dalit) and mocked the people for availing the free bus travel women.
There have been such incidents regularly of DMK cadres vandalising Briyani and other merchandise for not giving them free of cost.
A woman (Jayamani) functionary of the DMK was allegedly harassed at the protest against the non-formation of the Cauvery Management Board protest in 2018. She alleged that a youth wing cadre Prabhu of the party, pinched her waist and pushed and shoved her.
On November 1, the Chennai cyber-crime wing booked DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadiq. He was reserved for his lewd remarks about female actors-turned-BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu. Saidai Sadiq mocked Khushbu Sundar and three other BJP leaders like actor Namitha, Gayathri Raghuram (now left) and Gautami, by calling them “items” (a derogatory way of referring to women).
Ironically, none of the leaders from Dravidar Kazagam and allies of DMK dares to condemn a series of events in which DMK cadres’ self-respect has been insulted, as they fear losing material support from the ruling DMK Government.
Tamil media and some journalists attempt to trivialise these incidents by either making absurd interpretations or failing to publish the news. When similar incidents occurred during the previous AIADMK regime in TN and BJP at the Centre, they made it a point of discussion during prime-time debates.
Political commentator Priya Venkat said, “DMK’s motto is Duty, Dignity and Discipline.
If we go by the recent incidents, we can infer differently. Even its patriarch Karunanidhi used unparliamentary, abusive, indecent, lewd and derogatory remarks against his opponents, and he spared none right from Rajaji, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Kamaraj, LK Advani, MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa, M Baktavatchlam, left leader Jeeva. It is no wonder, and we can expect from them who are claiming to follow in his footsteps.
Its platform speakers spoke unprintable language against DMK’s adversaries. Under the Dravidian rule, the public esteem, decency, decorum, and dignity were given a go-bye and stooped to a new low”.
