3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
VCK's Thol Thirumavalavan defends ‘Brahmin' remark, EPS chastises MGR bashers
SALEM/ TIRUCHY: Two days after VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan's remark against former chief ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said those who speak against MGR would fade away in Tamil Nadu politics. The AIADMK leader was addressing a party induction event in Omalur, where nearly 1,000 members from various political parties joined the party.
Thirumavalavan, while addressing a memorial function for former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Thursday, had said 'there is popular opinion that MGR's entry had brought 'benefit' to certain political forces by sowing anti-Karunanidhi sentiment, enabling the infiltration of Brahminism into the Dravidian movement, and paving the way for a Brahmin woman to lead a Dravidian party'. He had also said national parties were not able to grow in the state amidst the fight between these parties.
After his speech stoked controversy, Thirumavalavan told reporters at Tiruchy airport on Saturday that he had no intention of insulting MGR or J Jayalalithaa and that his remarks in Chennai were aimed at explaining how Tamil Nadu politics had revolved around Karunanidhi over the past 60 years. 'In my speech, I said that politics was centred on opposing Karunanidhi. I also said that AIADMK, under MGR and Jayalalithaa had functioned largely as a 'Karunanidhi-opposition',' he said.
