Chennai: Indian politics has, in recent years, been marred by unwanted personal remarks against rivals.
In the latest case, Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran triggered a controversy after allegedly making a personal remark about chief minister Vijay and his mother.
Responding to the actor-turned-politician’s recent remarks apparently aimed at former chief minister M K Stalin, Nagendra on Saturday appeared to target Vijay while speaking at an I-Day event at BJP’s state headquarters Kamalalayam.
“When people search for a father in the House and cannot find him, they should ask the mother at home to know who the father is,” Nagendran said, according to PTI.
Vijay had narrated a short story in the Assembly earlier to take a swipe at DMK president Stalin, hinting about the whereabouts of an Opposition leader’s “father” following the party’s electoral defeat in Kolathur Assembly constituency.
Vijay’s remarks had drawn criticism from several political parties.
Now, it’s Nagendran’s turn to hit back.
According to local media, a complaint has been filed against Nagendran at the DGP Office accusing the BJP state chief of crossing the limits of political discourse and making a derogatory personal comment.
Condemning Nagendran’s statement, state minister A Rajmohan described it as “uncivilised and inappropriate” for someone holding a senior political position.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai also criticised Nagendran’s “low quality” and “third rate” politics.
Annamalai said on a post on X it was “highly condemnable” that political speeches were vulgarising Tamil Nadu’s political arena.
He said political differences and criticism of government policies were part of democratic politics, but targeting a leader’s family members, particularly their mother, was unacceptable.
Annamalai said political leaders should not set an example of such behaviour for children in the state.