Tamil Nadu Police have registered cases against senior DMK leaders A Raja and P K Sekar Babu, along with party MLA Vasantham Karthikeyan, over alleged defamatory remarks against chief minister C Joseph Vijay, PTI news agency reported, citing an official on Tuesday.
The TVK chief also seemingly held his jaw with one hand as if to lift it, a gesture that was seen by some to mock Stalin, who suffered a jaw fracture in an assault by the police following his arrest under MISA. However, the Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist and Communist Party of India, which extend ‘outside’ support to the ruling TVK government, took exception to Vijay’s conduct. DMK leaders, including party chief Stalin, responded to Vijay’s remarks. You also showed it like this, keeping your hand near the jaw, right? That is correct.
Speaking about his detention, Stalin said the DMK had held a major gathering at Marina Beach in 1976 to oppose the Emergency and criticise MISA, and recalled that police then went to the Karunanidhi residence in Gopalapuram to arrest him under MISA. Citing the conditions in prison, the DMK chief said, “Due to their beating, my jawbone was broken.
However, Vijay later said his body language was unintentional , not targeted at anyone and that there was no “ulterior motive” behind it. Stalin said Vijay “must not talk about unnecessary controversies in the Assembly”, and accused the actor-turned-politician of using social media reels and publicity to cover-up his administrative failures. The former Tamil Nadu CM said he was away campaigning at the time. Veteran leader M Karunanidhi told the police that his son had gone campaigning and would return the next day, according to Stalin. “When I came, he himself called the police and asked them to arrest me,” Stalin said.
Even today, I have the scars of the beatings I received.”
During a protest organised by the DMK to condemn Vijay’s speech in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Raja responded to remarks made by the chief minister and TVK minister Nirmal Kumar. However, the DMK deputy general secretary later expressed regret over his remarks on Kumar, following backlash from several quarters. Several parties, including the Congress and the Left, slammed Raja for his remarks. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi also criticised the statements.
Raja, without naming Kumar, said in a social media post on Sunday that he also regretted “questioning him.
