Row After DMK MP's Anti-Hindu Slur in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: A political controversy erupted on Tuesday after DMK MP D.N.V. Senthilkumar used derogatory words against Hindi heartland states in the Lok Sabha while describing the BJP's win in recent state Assembly elections. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expunged the words from the records. Later, the DMK MP said that he will not use remarks again if they have hurt somebody's feelings.

Earlier, while participating in a debate in the Lower House on two bills related to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Senthilkumar said people of this country should think that the power of the BJP is only winning elections "in the heartland states of Hindi and what we generally called as... (expunged from records) states." 

"You (the BJP) cannot come to South India. You can see what happened in the election results in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We are strong there," he added.

The comments come in the backdrop of some referring to the recent Assembly election results as a "North-South divide" after the BJP trounced the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while the grand old party won in Telangana.

Later in the evening, speaking to a news agency, Mr Senthilkumar said that he will not use the remarks again.

"I made some statements inside the House. At the time, the home minister and the BJP members were there. I have used this before in my speeches in Parliament. It was not a controversial statement. If it touches somebody, I will try to avoid using it next time. I will use some other words," he said. 

On being asked if such remarks will hurt the sentiments of people, Mr Senthilkumar said, "No, I don't think anybody's sentiments were hurt. There was nothing controversial inside the House. If people find it controversial, then I will use some different words to explain what I meant."

The controversy comes close on the heels of Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin's son and state minister, had triggered a political row in September with his remarks against "Sanatana Dharma".

In Tamil Nadu, state BJP chief K. Annamalai condemned the "insensitive" remarks of the DMK MP, saying the level of the party's discourse is "sinking" like Chennai and the "arrogance" of the DMK will be the prime reason for its downfall.

Congress leader Karti Chidambaram also demanded an apology from the DMK MP and said that the choice of his words was unfortunate.