Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu minister K. Ponmudi has been removed from the position of the partyâs deputy general secretary after he made inappropriate remarks with references to Shaivism and Vaishnavism, sparking outrage in the state.
The comments were made in the form of a joke on 9 April in a speech at a public meeting in Villupuram, the premise of which revolved around a sex worker.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, however, has not yet commented on whether Ponmudi will be asked to resign from his cabinet. The minister holds the forests portfolio.
Stalin removed Ponmudi from the party position without mentioning any specific reason. Senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva has been appointed as the new deputy general secretary.
A video clip of Ponmudiâs remarks is being heavily circulated on social media, inviting criticism from within his own party. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi took to X to call his remarks âunacceptableâ.
âFor whatever reasons it was spoken, such vulgar speeches are condemnable,â she wrote Friday.
BJP leaders in the state also slammed Ponmudi, and demanded that the minister be removed from the Tamil Nadu cabinet and arrested. The vice president of the partyâs Tamil Nadu unit, Narayanan Thirupathy said that Ponmudiâs speech was âdirty, filthy and nastyâ. He said, âHe has maligned the women of Tamil Nadu. He must be arrested and removed from the state cabinet immediately.â
This is not the first time that Ponmudiâs speeches have drawn flak.
After DMK came to power in 2021, the government had launched a free bus scheme for women in the state, a flagship initiative.
Speaking at an event in Chennai in 2022, Ponmudi had called it the âOC busâ scheme, with reference to a colloquial Tamil word, implying that it was obtained for free.
âYou are all travelling by OC buses. Arenât you?â he had said, addressing women beneficiaries in Chennai.
Back in 2018, during a public meeting, he had made derogatory remarks about Scheduled Castes, while discussing the reservation policies.
He is facing two disproportionate assets cases filed against him by various governments under AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam).
In the case filed against him and his wife P. Visalakshi in 2011, he was charged with amassing wealth of Rs 1.75 crore beyond known sources of income. Although he was acquitted by the special court in Villupuram, he was convicted by Madras High Court in December 2023. But the Supreme Court granted him bail and stayed his conviction.
In another case filed in 2002, the Villupuram special court had acquitted him of all charges. However, Madras High Court had initiated a suo-motu revision of the matter and the case is pending.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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