Minister asks, ‘Who’s Siddharth?’ and Sid replies!

D Jayakumar, TN State Minister for Fisheries and Personnel and Administrative Reforms, is routinely at loggerheads with several actors, including Rajinikanth, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, Vijay, etc. He steps forward to react whenever his political party, the AIADMK, comes in for criticism from the actors.  It was Siddharth’s turn recently to receive flak from the Minister, after the actor made some disparaging remarks about TN Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy in reference to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB).

Siddharth, the pan Indian actor who is active on his social media handle, not only shares news of his upcoming films and day-to-day happenings with fans, but also posts about many politically and socially relevant issues. The Kaaviya Thalaivan actor has been trolled a few times for his frank tweets too.

The CAB has been generating widespread discussion. Opinion on it has been sharply divided. In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK’s decision to support the Bill has earned the disapproval of various quarters.

Siddharth took to Twitter to slam the current AIADMK leadership, particularly the Chief Minister, for supporting CAB. He posted, “Deeply ashamed that Edappadi Palaniswami represents my state and our people. Supporting the #CAB shows his true colours, his lack of integrity and his desperate need to remain powerful at any cost. You will all be held accountable. Enjoy your temp power till then with the hash tag: #IndiaRejectsCAB.”

When Minister Jayakumar was queried on Siddharth’s critique by the media at an event to celebrate the 138th birthday of Tamil Poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar, he retorted with a question of his own - “Who’s that? In which film has he starred?” He added that he wasn’t willing to waste his time answering such questions, as these actors talk to gain publicity.

The video clip shared by one of Sid’s followers tagging the actor went viral. The seemingly unperturbed Rang De Basanti star replied in his inimitable style.

“He asks who I am. No problem. His government awarded me the Tamil Nadu State Government Best Actor Award for 2014. They announced it in 2017 and still haven’t given me the award. I don’t need to speak for publicity. I have earned my place and came up on my own. Honestly.”

And in yet another post he said, “Insulting tax paying citizens who speak out of concern will only take you so far boxer uncle. Neenga onnum enna periya aalu aakka thevaiyillai. Do your job. That’s enough. Get well soon.”