Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (CM) and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief Vijay on Tuesday chose to put an end to a political controversy linked to a gesture he made during his speech in the state Assembly, saying it was not intended to hurt anyone personally.
In a post on the social media platform ‘X,’ Vijay said his body language while responding to the police department’s grant request in the Legislative Assembly on September 7 was ‘not intentional in any way.’
Former CM MK Stalin (Left) and CM Vijay (Right)
He added that the gesture should not be viewed as an attempt to hurt anyone’s feelings on a personal level. The CM issued the clarification after DMK legislators staged a sit-in outside Speaker JCD Prabhakar’s chamber, demanding that Vijay’s remarks be expunged from the Assembly records. Marshals then removed the protestors.
Gesture draws political backlash
The controversy unfolded during Vijay’s fiery Assembly speech on Monday, when he launched a scathing verbal attack on the Opposition party DMK and questioned its ‘Mr Clean’ image while alleging that it was teeming with corruption.
He cited documents issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and findings of the Sarkaria Commission while targeting former CM MK Stalin and his son Udhyanidhi, the former Deputy CM of the state. He alleged that contractors executing state-funded infrastructure projects were asked to pay kickbacks as ‘party funds.’
DMK legislators objected vehemently to the allegations and staged a walkout headed by Udhayanidhi Stalin. While referring to the history of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), CM Vijay placed his right palm against his jaw. The gesture was widely interpreted as a reference to Stalin’s broken jaw.
Vijay (left) and MK Stalin (Right)
Notably, Stalin had sustained the injury after being assaulted during his detention under MISA during the Emergency.
CPI(M) condemns Vijay’s act
CPI(M) leader P Shanmugam accused CM Vijay of making a personal attack on Stalin and slammed the alleged reference to his physical injury. Shanmugam said Stalin was brutally assaulted by the police during the Emergency, resulting in his jaw being broken, and called mocking someone’s physical appearance ‘condemnable.’
He also accused Vijay of turning the Assembly into a platform for personal attacks instead of addressing issues concerning the general public.
Speaker rejects demand to expunge remarks
Speaker Prabhakar declined the DMK’s demand to remove Vijay’s MISA-related remarks from the Assembly records. He said Vijay had referred to matters that had already been discussed in the House and therefore, there was no need to expunge his speech on the MISA Act.