Chennai: DMK deputy general secretary and Nilgiris MP, A Raja, has landed in soup after a video of him making a disparaging comment against AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) went viral with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami coming out with a message on X lashing out at him with a stern warning that the people would teach him a lesson in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
It was the desperation that they could not raise the reputation of their leader M Karunanidhi to the level of AIADMK icons MGR and J Jayalalithaa that was compelling the DMK leaders to come out with such derogatory statements against past leaders, indicting a ploy by those like Raja to gain political mileage out of it.
Though the AIADMK leaders could also speak ill of other party leaders, revealing historic truths, they would not lower themselves to such abysmal depths, Palaniswami said, adding that the DMK could not appropriate the ownership of the plethora of welfare schemes launched by his government despite continuous efforts like ‘pasting stickers’ on the schemes and organizing self-congratulatory meetings.
All attempts by DMK acolytes, all through history, to trap the images of AIADMK icons had failed in the people’s forum and they would not succeed in future, too, whatever they do, to bring disrepute to the guardian angels of the party who resided in the hearts of the people, the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly said.
Other AIADMK leaders and non-political personalities, too, came down heavily on Raja for his remark that he never had any respect for MGR, using a defamatory term. Former Minister D Jayakumar said that he too could use the same term against Karunanidhi but would not stoop to such levels and asked what Raja, a novice, would know of MGR.
Raja made that disparaging remark against MGR at a public meeting in Namakkal, which was organized by the DMK in honour of Tamil language martyrs on January 25. With the video clipping going viral on some social media platforms, the speech gave rise to an outrage with many hitting out at the DMK leader.
Even otherwise, the BJP had started targeting Raja by recalling his association in the 2G scam and even trying to proclaim that he escaped the jaws of law in the major corruption case by manipulating the investigations.
BJP State president K Annamalai’s ‘DMK Files – Part 3’ had leaked audio recordings of a police officer saying that the CBI had been fixed. It is learnt that the Union Government was planning to reopen the CBI investigation. It is in this context the eruption of the latest controversy gains political significance.
