Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on Tuesday took umbrage at the term "impotent" used by "Thuglaq" magazine editor S Gurumurthy to describe the action taken by the ruling AIADMK against supporters of sidelined leader TTV Dhinakaran, after his shock victory in the RK Nagar bye-poll.

Interacting with reporters in Chennai, Jayakumar said Gurumurthy should control his tongue and only impotent persons will talk about impotency. He said legal action against magazine editor and chartered accountant Gurumurthy would be taken, if necessary, for his defamatory views.

Reacting to the action taken by Chief Miniser K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam against the supporters of Dhinakaran, Gurumurthy, in a tweet, said: "These weak men took action after almost six months.. impotent leaders... After shock RK Nagar poll defeat, AIADMK cracks whip against nine Dhinakaran men."

While Gurumurthy used the term impotent to mean "powerless, weak, ineffective", the AIADMK Minister Jayakumar and supporters of the ruling party condemned the usage of the word.

According to Jayakumar, the AIADMK party has self-respect, and the party activists are like Kangeyam (a place reputed for its bull stock) bulls and will not lose self-respect.

Responding to Jayakumar's outrage, Gurumurthy, in a series of tweets, said: "I thank the TN minister for dispelling the wrong impression the Edappadi OPS govt is running on my advice. I never advised them as govt ever. As an independent writer, I will continue to express my views on how parties and leaders conduct themselves whether they like it or not.

"I have been expressing similar views in the Thuglak magazine in Q&A column, continuously, about the Edappadi (Palaniswami) government. There is nothing new I have said now about how weak the ADMK leadership is." 

Meanwhile, TTV Dhinakaran, who contested the RK Nagar bye-poll as an independent candidate and won, will take oath as an MLA on December 29. 

(With IANS inputs)