1 week Ago
Senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Minister K. Ponmudy was sacked from his party post of deputy general secretary after his address at a meeting where he narrated a vulgar story involving sexual positions and two sects of Hinduism. Issues of discipline, party appointments, and postings have traditionally been handled by the party general secretary, but this time, the Chief Minister and party President M.
K. Stalin issued the sacking order, underlining the seriousness with which the party has considered the issue. This is possibly the first time that the party President is using the extraordinary powers afforded under the DMK constitution to sack an office bearer.
Ponmudy, however, continues as a Minister in the Stalin cabinet. The DMK also announced the appointment of Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva as Ponmudy’s replacement. There are five deputy general secretaries in the party.
Ponmudy, a senior politician, was among the influential leaders in the hierarchy. Ironically, some years ago, Tiruchi Siva himself had an unseemly altercation with the then AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa (now with the BJP) at Delhi airport. Also Read | DMK Minister Ponmudi sentenced in disproportionate assets case Just an hour before the sacking, DMK’s parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi posted on social media platform X: “Minister Ponmudy’s recent speech is unacceptable.
Regardless of the reason for the speech, such vulgar remarks are condemnable.” On April 6, at an event held in Villupuram, Ponmudy’s home district, the Minister had mentioned Saivism and Vaishnavism in an anecdote involving sexual innuendo. The advocate, activist, and former member of the DMK, K.
S. Radhakrishnan, asked how such comments could be acceptable to any political party. “Did political party leaders, who get angry if anyone says anything about other religions, condemn Ponmudy,” he asked.
Several other leaders asked why the DMK was being silent on the issue, before Ponmudy was sacked. The AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Satyan described Ponmudy as a disgrace to public life while a BJP leader accused Ponmudy of “Hindu bashing”. Ponmudy’s comments helped the BJP launch a frontal attack on the DMK on the day that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah is visiting Chennai.
Amit Malviya, who handles the party’s National Information and Technology Department, said: “After Udhayanidhi Stalin’s disgraceful attack on Sanatan Dharma, DMK Minister K. Ponmudy has now taken the baton of Hindu-bashing forward.” Malviya added: “The pattern is clear.
Whether it is DMK, Congress, TMC, or RJD—members of the INDI alliance seem united not by ideology but by shared disdain for Hindu beliefs and relentless pursuit of minority appeasement.” Tracing the disgraced Minister’s background Ponmudy has high academic qualifications. His doctoral thesis was on the parallels between the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and the Black movement in the US.
He is considered an atheist from the Periyar school of politics. Despite this, his language and anecdotes are always crude and targeted at a male audience. This is not the first time that Ponmudy is courting controversy.
In an earlier instance, after another insensitive remark, the Chief Minister had criticised him without naming him in a DMK meeting. Stalin had said then that some leaders were giving him sleepless nights because of their thoughtless comments. These comments, Stalin said, neither reflected the party position nor were they welcome at any level.
Also Read | The grandson rises: How Udhayanidhi Stalin’s meteoric rise challenges DMK’s democratic claims In fact, Ponmudy is currently on bail after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case by the Madras High Court in 2023 when he was handed a three-year prison sentence. The Supreme Court granted him bail. Singer Chinmayi Sripada, a relentless campaigner against the sexual exploitation of women, posted a video of Ponmudy’s speech on X and said: “He describes a ‘joke’ because apparently there is a ‘market’ for these jokes in a public gathering.
.. No wonder they are all hand-in-glove with the molester poetttttu.
” The “poet” Chinmayi refers to Vairamuthu, a celebrated Tamil film lyricist who is considered to be close to the DMK and has often shared a stage with the Chief Minister and other DMK leaders. Chinmayi has described Vairamuthu’s sexual misconduct with her and demanded action against him, but the DMK has refused to stop platforming him in its events. But Chinmayi herself has faced an industry boycott for over six years for naming Vairamuthu.
Featured Comment CONTRIBUTE YOUR COMMENTS SHARE THIS STORY Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit.
