Chennai: K Ponmudi, Tamil Nadu Forest Minister and senior DMK leader, landed in controversy for his speech at a public event, in which he made remarks linking Hindu religious identities with sexual positions. In the anecdote, when the man doesn’t understand, she clarifies by asking whether he wears a pattai (horizontal tilak, associated with Shaivism) or a naamam (vertical tilak, associated with Vaishnavism).
DMK MP Kanimozhi condemned the statement by Ponmudi. In a post on X, she wrote, “Minister Ponmudi’s recent speech is unacceptable. Regardless of the reason for the speech, such vulgar remarks are condemnable.” Actor and BJP leader Khushbu Sundar, in a post on X, tagged Chief Minister MK Stalin and asked, “Will you ever have the guts to throw him out of his chair and position? Or you and your party find sadistic pleasures in insulting women and Hinduism?”
She also questioned if “the women in your household approve of these insults when they visit temples brazenly.” “This is a joke. The joke is on us,” she wrote, adding, “There has GOT to be some sort of a divinity or a Goddess or a God that will punish this.” The BJP’s IT Cell head Amit Malviya called it a continuation of DMK’s alleged attacks on Hinduism.
Referring to earlier remarks made by Udhayanidhi Stalin about Sanatan Dharma, Malviya said, “Whether it’s DMK, Congress, TMC, or RJD, members of the I.N.D.I. Alliance seem united not by ideology, but by a shared disdain for Hindu beliefs.”The backlash prompted the DMK to act swiftly, removing Ponmudi from the post of deputy general secretary of the party. Tiruchi N Siva has now replaced Ponmudi in the post.
