Senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy was on Friday removed from a key party post in the wake of a row over his remarks on Shaivism and Vaishnavism that drew widespread criticism, including from DMK MP Kanimozhi and Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Annamalai.
DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that Ponmudy was being 'relieved from the party's deputy general secretary post.'
Stalin made the announcement in a statement, but did not attribute any reasons for the action.
He named Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva as Ponmudy's replacement. Siva was relieved from his Propaganda Secretary post as per party rules, Stalin added.
The move came close on the heels of the minister's apparently distasteful remarks leading to a controversy, with the opposition BJP demanding Ponmudy's sacking from the cabinet.
A video of the minister making the purported remarks in the context of a sex worker has gone viral. There was no immediate response from Ponmudy, the state Forest minister.
Kanimozhi hit out at her party colleague, saying, "The recent speech of minister Ponmudy is not acceptable."
"For whatever reason he had spoken, such vulgar words are condemnable," she said in a post on X.
Reacting to the controversy, Annamalai said, "This is DMK's standard of political discourse in Tamil Nadu."
"Thiru Ponmudi was once the Higher Education Minister of Tamil Nadu & now Minister for Forests and Khadi, and the youth of Tamil Nadu are expected to tolerate this filth? Not just this Minister, the entire DMK ecosystem is vulgar, foul-mouthed, and uncouth..." he said in a post on X.
By removing him from a party post today, if DMK thinks people will move on, 'they are sadly mistaken,' he added.
"DMK's relentless attacks on the pillars of Hindu Dharma (Saivam & Vainavam) won't go unanswered forever. Don't take our silence for weakness, Thiru @mkstalin," he said.
In a social media post, Narayanan Thirupathy, Vice-President of the BJP's TN unit said, "Minister Ponmudy continuing in his post is shameful... CM Stalin, will you order Ponmudy's arrest."
He has maligned the women of Tamil Nadu with his comments, the BJP leader alleged.
Thirupathy welcomed Kanimozhi criticising Ponmudy.
Ponmudy had earlier courted controversy, linking north Indians with selling pani puri.
Taking a dig at those who insist jobs will be available for those who learn Hindi, he had wondered who were selling pani puri in the city (Coimbatore) now, an obvious reference to the predominantly Hindi-speaking vendors involved in the trade.
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