Legislator and BJP Tamil Nadu Vice President Nainar Nagenthiran courted controversy with his remarks on the AIADMK. Nagenthiran, a former AIADMK man, said the Dravidian party lacks a backbone while speaking in the Assembly. His statements, made at Chennai’s Valluvar Kottam during a BJP-organised protest against the death of the Thanjavur student M Lavanya, triggered outrage among AIADMK cadres across the state.
“It is a secondary matter that the AIADMK is in a coalition with the BJP, but I am not able to see the AIADMK talk with potency and backbone in the Assembly. You can ask me why I (BJP) cannot speak there. It is because we are only four in number and are not big enough to be heard,” Nainar said at the protest meeting in Valluvar Kottam held on Tuesday, January 25. Nagenthiran said that the AIADMK did not have ‘aanmai’ or masculinity.
Outraged, AIADMK hit back at Nagenthiran for his remarks. AIADMK IT Wing secretary and Madurai Zone Vice President, Raj Satyen, pointed out the sexism in Nagenthiran’s words. “Masculinity is not a word but an action,” Raj Satyen tweeted. He even asked Nagenthiran to ‘prove his manliness’ by resigning from his MLA seat by winning as an AIADMK candidate, and emerge victorious on his own.
அண்ணன் @NainarBJP , நீங்கள் வேண்டுமானால் @AIADMKOfficial தோள் மேல் தொத்திக் கொண்டு பெற்ற சட்டமன்ற பதவியை ராஜினாமா செய்து விட்டு , தாங்களாக மீண்டும் வெற்றி பெற்று தங்கள் ஆண்மையை நிருபியுங்களேன் ….??? ஆண்மை என்பது சொல் அல்ல செயல்….!!
— Raj Satyen (@satyenaiadmk) January 25, 2022
AIADMK North Chennai youth wing has also filed a complaint against Nainar Nagenthiran at the Peravallur station, demanding the latter’s arrest. Following the backlash, Nagenthiran tweeted that his statements about AIADMK were misconstrued. “During the protest at Valluvar Kottam…my views on AIADMK were misunderstood. My only intention was to secure justice (for Lavanya) through the protest,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
இன்று வள்ளுவர் கோட்டத்தின் போராட்டத்தின் போது , அஇஅதிமுக பற்றிய என்னுடைய கருத்துக்கள் தவறுதலாக புரிந்துகொள்ள பட்டுள்ளது ! நான் கூறிய கருத்துக்கு எந்த விதமான உள்நோக்கமும் இல்லை ! போராட்டத்தின் மூலம் நீதி கிடைக்க வேண்டும் என்பதே எங்கள் ஒரே எண்ணம்!!#Justiceforlavanaya @news7tamil pic.twitter.com/fYCGJo2ebc
— Nainar Nagenthiran (@NainarBJP) January 25, 2022
According to reports, BJP President K Annamalai clarified to leader of opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami that Nainar’s remarks were not the opinion of BJP Tamil Nadu. He reportedly expressed his regret over the incident to EPS. Speaking to the media, he added that the alliance between the AIADMK and the BJP was a natural one, and that AIADMK is acting as a strong opposition party.
Meanwhile, all AIADMK leaders including O Panneerselvam and EPS have urged the state government to take action against the death of the Thanjavur student. OPS even asked the state to provide a relief of Rs 25 lakh to the kin of the deceased student.