DMK sacks general secretary K Ponmudy for ‘disgusting’ remark: What did he say?

Tamil Nadu's forest minister K Ponmudy landed in soup for his alleged remarks on Shaivism and Vaishnavism, and women, prompting chief minister MK Stalin to sack him as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's deputy general secretary.

However, Ponmudy has so far not been removed from his ministerial post.

CM Stalin said in a statement that Ponmudy was being "relieved from the party's deputy general secretary post" without attributing any reasons for it. He named Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva as Ponmudy's replacement.

Siva was relieved from his Propaganda Secretary post as per his party rules, the Tamil Nadu CM added.

What did K Ponmudy say?

A purported video of K Ponmudy has gone viral where he is allegedly making remarks about a conversation between a man and a sex worker. HT.com could not independently verify the video.

Before making his joke, he also allegedly asked the women present at the gathering to not 'mistake him' for his joke.

He also purportedly made a 'joke' on the two different sects of Hinduism, Shaivism and Vaishnavism, drawing ire from several leaders, including DMK MP Kanimozhi, BJP state president K Annamalai.

This is not the first time that the DMK leader has courted controversy with his remark. He had previously made inappropriate remarks about women taking free bus rides. He also hit the headlines for making a link between north Indian and selling pani puri.

He had made an obvious reference to the predominant Hindi-speaking vendors involved in the pani puri trade and referred to the migrant workers in a Tamil Nadu city as "those who were selling pani puri".

'Vulgar, disgusting' remarks

DMK MP Kanimozhi hit out at her party colleague and termed his alleged speech as "unacceptable". In a post on X, she said that regardless of the reason behind his speech, "such vulgar remarks are condemnable".

Meanwhile, BJP leader Khushbu Sundar said addressed a post to MK Stalin and noted that his minister has a "disgusting mindset".

"Will you ever have the guts to throw him out his chair and position? Or you and your party find sadistic pleasures in insulting women and Hinduism in making such disgusting comments??" Sundar asked.

She further asked whether "the women in your household approve of these insults when they visit temples brazenly? And most importantly, is this your brain that's working overtime or not working at all?"

BJP state president K Annamalai also likened Ponmudy's remarks as "DMK's standard of political discourse in Tamil Nadu".

Noting that Ponmudy once served as the higher education minister of the state and is now the minister for forests and khadi, asking that "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. Hang your head in shame, Thiru @mkstalin, for leading such a disgraceful pack," Annamalai wrote in a post on X.

He said that if removing Ponmudy from a party post will lead to people moving on, then "they are sadly mistaken".

"DMK's relentless attacks on the pillars of Hindu Dharma (Saivam and Vaisnavam) won't go unanswered forever. Don't take our silence for weakness, Thiru @mkstalin," Annamalai added.