DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran who is known for his loose tongue, has once again found himself mired in controversy while trying to attack the BJP for circulating old videos of him slandering Hindi speakers and north Indians.
On Sunday (1 January 2023) when he was participating at an event distributing relief measures for people affected in Michuang cyclone in his constituency, one of reporters asked him “Old videos of important DMK leaders are being trended. Even one of your videos is trending” to which the DMK MP replies “There is a saying – Jobless barbers catch hold of cats to shave its furs. Likewise they want to create some ruckus, particularly national BJP IT wing, they want to make the issue national level for political mileage which will not materialize”.
Slamming these remarks of DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai wrote on X “Degrading someone by profession or language seems to be the only thing DMK MP Thiru Dayanidhi Maran excels in. Instead of apologising, Thiru Dayanidhi Maran calls those spreading & reacting to his rants on our North Indian Brothers and Sisters the work of a “Jobless Barber”. With this constant degrading, it is only evident that even the continuous taste of electoral defeat doesn’t seem to shake the resolve of the leaders in the I.N.D.I. Alliance”.
This is not the first instance time Dayanidhi Maran had found himself in controversy for something he said.
During a public address in 2019, the DMK MP stated that people who learn Hindi end up as construction workers and toilet cleaners in Tamil Nadu, while Tamilians who are not proficient in Hindi occupy high-ranking positions in the IT sector.
He said, “We asked you to study Tamil and English. You studied. Look at Sundar Pichai, he is now the CEO of Google. He would have been a construction worker if he had studied Hindi. Our children hold high-level positions in IT firms and earn a good living. Look at those who studied Hindi. They work as construction workers and clean toilets.”
He also made derogatory casteist remarks during his visit to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary’s office in 2020 where he met reporters and said “They are treating us like third grade citizens! What are we Depressed class people?”
During the campaign for 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, the DMK MP made distasteful innuendo while taking a jibe at AIADMK leader Rajenthira Balaji equating “Modi as daddy” and the late AIADMK supremo as their “Amma”.
He had said “Minister Rajenthira Balaji says Jayalalithaa is their ‘Amma’ (mother) and Modi is their ‘daddy’. Look at the kind of relationship they have. If we say this, they will it is wrong.”
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