DMK Minister PTR Palanivel Thigarajan is known for being haughty and making below-the-belt remarks against anyone whom he disagrees with.
This one time he had took to abusing Superstar Rajinikanth as well, albeit indirectly. He had called Rajinikanth as “a man who is desperately trying to regain his fading glory”.
Now this same comment has come to haunt PTR back with his portfolio changed from Finance to Information Technology. PTR was sacked from the Finance portfolio and moved to Information Technology and Digital Services. Thangam Thennarasu was given Finance, Planning, Human Resource Management portfolios that were earlier handled by Palanivel Thiagarajan. The move was seen as a setback for both the PTR and DMK as it comes following the leak of PTR’s purported audio in which he accused MK Stalin’s family of amassing more money in one year than the previous generation.
Poking fun at the new DMK Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan’s, actor Rajinikanth fans said, quoting PTR’s own statement, that “PTR is desperately trying any means to regain fading glory.”
When PTR Attacked Rajini
On 5 August 2019, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre abrogated Article 370 and 35A that gave special status to Jammu & Kashmirin order to fully integrate the region with the rest of India.
Superstar Rajinikanth had lauded the move and the manner in which it was effectively done without any untoward incident.
“My heartfelt congratulations for your Mission Kashmir operations, sir. The way you conducted it, hats off, especially the speech you delivered in Parliament, fantastic sir, fantastic.”, Rajinikanth had said and also compared the Modi-Shah duo to Krishna-Arjuna of the Mahabharata.
On the other hand film actor Vijay Sethupathi had called the move “undemocractic” adding that reports from Kashmir are causing him a lot of pain. Sethupathi quoted rabid separatist anti-Hindu demagogue EV Ramasamy Naicker and said that people should be let to decide for themselves.
“This is against democracy. Periyar had said earlier itself that people themselves should decide on their problems and issues. Can I interfere in the affairs of your house? It is you who live there and know what is best for you. I can be concerned about you, but cannot impose my decisions on you. These are two different things,”, Vijay Sethupathi said when he was in Australia to attend a film event.
The article about Vijay Sethupathi’s comments was covered by leftist Dravidian Stockist media outlet The News Minute (TNM) which was shared on Twitter by Shabbir Ahmed (who back then was with Times Now and is now with TNM.
Sharing Shabbir’s tweet, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said “I salute #VijaySethupathi for his clarity of thought, humanity, and the courage to speak, while so many are silenced by fear.”
In a sly jibe at Rajinikanth, PTR further went on to say “A clear contrast to the morally bankrupt, intellectually challenged, pseudo-Hindu, yesteryear Star, desperately trying any means to regain fading glory”.
When Karunanidhi Praised Rajini
A netizen with the Twitter handle named Sivakumar (@tn2point0) had back then drew the attention of PTR to the late DMK patriarch’s comment about Rajinikanth. As his tweet went viral, he was blocked by PTR.
முன்னாள் நிதியமைச்சர் PTR அவர்களுடன் ட்விட்டரில் எனக்கு ஏற்பட்ட ஒரு கருத்து மோதல் குறித்த பதிவு இது.
2019ல் காஷ்மீர் தொடர்பான சிறப்பு சட்டம் 370 நீக்கப்பட்டபோது அதற்கு ஆதரவாக ரஜினி கருத்து தெரிவித்திருந்தார். அச்சமயம், நடிகர் விஜய் சேதுபதி 370 நீக்கப்பட்டதை எதிர்த்து கருத்து… pic.twitter.com/TiA8o8riZc
— Sivakumar (tn2point0.com) (@tn2point0) May 11, 2023
Not once but Karunanidhi had praised Rajinikanth multiple times in multiple stages. He had called Rajinikanth as a man with a pure heart, who doesn’t act in real life and a person who hasn’t abandoned his conscience.
“Both our hearts are intertwined. With that heartful feeling, I say this. I thought about the reasons for his success. Is it his acting? It is not just his acting. Is it his passion towards art? It is not just passion. Is it his hardwork? It is not just his hardwork. Is it his energy? It is not just his energy. Then what else is the reason for his success? Not just in cine or art world, he occupies the hearts of Tamil Nadu people including me. It is because, despite so many great victories, even if such victories keep piling into a mountain, despite a sea of such victories, he is humble. He is not a man who considers those victories as his victories. A man who considers himself to be the reason for all victories is bound to fall down. A man who considers his victory to be that of people’s, he will further accumulate more victories. Our beloved Rajinikanth comes in the second category of people.”, Karunanidhi says in the above speech.
The above quote is very much applicable to PTR, who often indulges in self-aggrandizement boasting about his dynastic privilege and flaunting his educational and professional background, considering himself to be the most genius person while deriding others.
PTR’s own words laden with venom has come back to haunt him. It is PTR who is now being seen as morally bankrupt and desperately trying any means to regain his fading glory, given that he is still being subservient to Stalin’s family for the sake of power.
(Vallavaraayan is a political writer fighting Dravidian Stockists)
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