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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Cheupak-Triplicane MLA and Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin was arrested by Neelankarai police on August 4 over the allegedly sexist remarks he recently made.
Dramatic scenes played out after the Madras High Court intervened to stop Udhayanidhi’s arrest. The court had initially prohibited the police from arresting him until 12.00 pm, and Udhayanidhi was taken from his residence in a police van for questioning. Later, his arrest was recorded.
The move comes a day after Udhayanidhi's speech at a DMK protest in Thanjavur. Udhayanidhi made allegedly offensive remarks, while a section of the crowd chanted actor Trisha’s name. The remarks triggered a controversy and drew condemnation from political parties and women's rights groups.
“I spoke for 22 minutes at the event. I spoke about how the state goverment is hoodwinking everyone; how they haven't kept any of their election promises; that they haven't kept their promise to farmers," Udhayanidhi told media personnel. He added that the "cowardly" state goverenment and Chief Minister C Joeseph Vijay do not speak up about any important issues.
"When I spoke yesterday, I said that the TVK goverment only uses diversion tactics," Udhayanidhi further said. Referring to Vijay as a "dummy CM", he added that the state goverment "lives in reels".
Udhayanidhi also said, "The action against me is for something I didn’t say. They are spreading fake news ... I am not afraid of all this. I will address this issue legally."
A case has been registered against Udhayanidhi at the Thanjavur East police station under BNS sections 196 (promoting enimity), 192 (intent to cause riot), 352 (intent to cause insult), 79 (insulting modesty of a woman), 296(b) (obscenity), 61 (criminal conspiracy) & 351(2) (criminal intimidation), section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Amendment Act and section 67 of the IT Act.
After controversy erupted, the BJP demanded immediate legal action against Udhayanidhi, with state vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy describing the remarks as "disgusting, obscene, vulgar, and shameful”. He also called for Udhayanidhi's arrest, arguing that such action would demonstrate the government's commitment to protecting the dignity of women.
TVK national spokesperson Pazha Selvakumar submitted a representation to the National Commission for Women (NCW), urging them to take cognisance of the speech, seek an explanation and an unconditional public apology, and direct law enforcement authorities to register a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The controversial remarks were made during a DMK demonstration against the state government's handling of the Cauvery water dispute. Addressing the protest, Udhayanidhi criticised the government over the lack of water release, alleged inaction on farmers' concerns, and accused the administration of focusing on filing cases against the DMK instead of addressing the Cauvery crisis.
