Central Chennai DMK Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran has once again trained his guns on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Disrespectful language, spewing lies, and venom are notable characteristics that Maran always espouses.
Speaking to the press in Coimbatore, Maran, when asked about the GST-bun-Annapoorna Hotel owner’s alleged apology issue, said, “We are elected by the people and become MPs and thus we know people’s problems. But some are not elected by the people and are appointed. She has been in the role of a minister for the past 10 years. They do not know people’s problems. If we ask, she will say, I don’t eat onion, I don’t eat that. Is this how one should talk? As our leader says, we will work for those who vote for us and do not vote for us. I will even go further and say our leader tells us we are not MPs but we must solve people’s problems like a councilor does. This is the role the organization gave us. That is the tradition we come from. These people do not meet the people ever and they only know how to abuse power. What did Annapoorna Srinivasan ask? He had an issue and he put it forward. What is wrong with asking? He even asked to make the tax uniform, he even said FM could increase the tax but make it simple. Is this wrong? To call him over and threaten him, is that right? This shows her animosity and bitterness towards the people of Coimbatore. She thought she could threaten the people of Coimbatore, if anyone speaks anything in public, they can be summoned the next day and threatened. Is this right? A while ago, there was a meeting in Mumbai. A person from Gujarat questioned the government over surcharges and taxes and even called the government a sleeping partner, and that the government was surviving on his tax money. Nirmala Sitharaman responded to him with a smile. If he is from Gujarat and speaks Hindi, then one should give respect. If we speak in Tamil, is it so cheap? Won’t we question it? The people here are also Indian citizens. It is our right to question. If we have a query, the government/minister has to address it properly. The action of the irresponsible minister is regrettable.”
A reporter then mentioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments on NEET, stating that more poor students are now able to study medical degrees because of NEET and do not have to pay much fees. Maran replied, “Earlier there was a capitation fee. They first said they were going to get rid of the capitation fee. At that time, the annual fees for medicine were around ₹25,000-₹30,000. Today a private college charges ₹25 lakhs. Who is responsible for this? The union (ondriya) government.” Then he goes on to speak disrespectfully and says “Indha amma.”
He continued, “In 2018, this lady came, the (ondriya) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, after Jayalalithaa died, as if this lady is going to become the Chief Minister, she camped here (dera) for 3 months. Why did she do that? She hoped to become CM and topple the “slave” rule (adimai aatchi). At that time, she said there would be no NEET that year. She said we are struggling with that. When you had a dream of becoming CM, you speak differently.” Here he used the word you as “nee” to address Nirmala Sitharaman in singular (disrespectful).
It is noteworthy that former TN CM J Jayalalithaa passed away in 2016.
He continued, “Now you don’t have that dream, so you speak differently. What did you achieve out of this? There are doctors who treat the PM, President, and even Nirmala Sitharaman, did they write NEET? The best doctors are the ones who did not write NEET.”
He further said, “In the 60s, what did you do? You said knowledge of Sanskrit is mandatory. What is the connection between Sanskrit and learning medicine? There is only one connection. Only the upper caste can study medicine. Other caste people should not study. Now what are they doing with NEET? There is so much confusion with the question papers. They are saying you can write the exam in Japan. The paper leaked there and came to India, where they leaked the answer sheet. So much corruption has happened, and a CBI inquiry is going on. Did the concerned minister resign? They are covering it up. In the south, the NEET exam is very difficult, by the time they check the questions, they forget what they have studied but if you check the states in the north, parents and teachers help the students to copy during the exam, especially in UP and Gujarat. To qualify for NEET, students must have at least 50% marks in 12th standard. But in Gujarat, a student got 720/720 but did she pass 12th? She failed. She attempts once again, and even then she fails but in NEET alone she gets 100%. What does this show, there are problems and with these, the Union government is trying to oppress us. We oppose this.”
BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan slammed Maran for his disrespectful remarks. She wrote, “Is this your Dravidian upbringing @Dayanidhi_Maran? Spreading false slander about a woman minister holding a key position in our Union Cabinet as a “campaign with dreams of becoming Chief Minister” and saying “you, come, go (nee va po)” without respect and civility in public is highly condemnable. We have seen that if a woman rises in politics and power, you and your party leaders, your coalition leaders, and your mercenary speakers will not hesitate to criticize her. But you and your alliance leader Mr. @EVKSElangovan take turns criticizing our Union Finance Minister Mrs. @nsitharaman. Is this the Dravidian policy? Is this what the I.N.D.I.Alliance is proclaiming as their policy? Do you, who were embroiled in corruption cases, have the basic qualification to talk about our Union Finance Minister who was the first woman Defence Minister? Therefore, we urge you to stop criticizing the rising women in politics and the shining women in power and stop being jealous of them with such low-level comments, and at least promote “civilized politics” that your party members are not used to.”
இதுதான் உங்கள் திராவிடத்தின் வளர்ப்பா திரு. @Dayanidhi_Maran அவர்களே?
நமது மத்திய அமைச்சரவையில் முக்கிய பொறுப்பில் இருக்கும், ஒரு பெண் அமைச்சரைப் பற்றி, “முதல்வராகும் கனவுடன் டேரா போட்டவர்” என்ற பொய் அவதூறுகளைப் பரப்புவதும், “நீ, வா, போ” என மரியாதையும் நாகரிகமுமின்றி பொதுவில்…
— Vanathi Srinivasan (@VanathiBJP) September 23, 2024
This is not the first time Dayanidhi Maran has spoken disrespectfully about Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Nirmala Mami”
In August 2023, the DMK organised a “day-long fast” on 20 August 2023 to protest against the union government’s insistence on continuing with the exam. Speaking at the event, DMK MP and former Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, made several casteist remarks against Brahmins and in particular against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
He said, “Anitha’s (the girl who died by suicide in 2017 after being unable to secure a medical seat) brother spoke here today and he said 2017, the year Anitha died, was an important year. Why do you think is it an important year? It is because in 2016, J Jayalalithaa passed away and BJP wanted to use every opportunity to come to power with the help of the “slaves” and that is why they sent “Nirmala Mami”. Ok, they sent Nirmala Sitharaman. What she does is (laughs, as someone points out why he mentioned the word Mami – he responds by saying, I said it inadvertently.)
He continued to say, “That woman has no work in Tamil Nadu, she is not even an elected Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, and she has never come to this side. She claims to have been born here and probably has her roots in Tamil Nadu, she knows several languages but doesn’t care for the state at all.”
How dare you say Nirmala mami on stage ? @Dayanidhi_Maran
She is finance minister of India & you are MP of Lok Sabha . #Shame on you Mr.Dayanidhi Maran.
This is #DravidianModel
Of talking. @nsitharaman@HMOIndia@loksabhaspeaker@annamalai_k@annamalai_chap2#சின்ன_தத்தி pic.twitter.com/04vTiI3iYC— 🇮🇳 𝕽𝖊𝖓𝖚𝖐𝖆 -#𝕬𝖓𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖎 𝕬𝖗𝖒𝖞 💪 (@Renuka9907) August 20, 2023
“Unga Thopanaar”
In a nearly 18-minute-long tirade in Parliament in February 2024, Dayanidhi Maran went on a lengthy rant and peddled lies about the Finance Minister, the Prime Minister, and the BJP government at the centre while hiding facts from the members of the House.
He started by saying, “This interim budget is an eyewash, it is a huge disappointment especially since this budget is useless for the poor. The middle-class people were expecting tax benefits since they kept on saying they are doing good things but all they got was ‘naamam’” – a derogatory representation of the Vaishnavite mark on the forehead connected to cheating.
After fumbling through numbers and mumbling some nonsense on the budget, he starts to target Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He said, “We are proud of her since she is a Tamilian, she was born in TN and belongs to the state, we thought she was a good person, a mighty person, but all that comes out of her mouth is different from the truth. She said this interim budget was focused on the poor, youth, and women. But the truth is that the rich such as Ambani, Adani, and Tata are becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. The revenue of India – 40% of it is held by the Tatas, Ambanis, and Adanis. The middle class is becoming poor, they are not having any income. They said they would provide jobs for youth, when – after they are re-elected to power. Mr Prime Minister, in 2014 you said you would generate 2 crore jobs per year, what happened to that? For 10 years you were all talk and no action – Dayanidhi Maran used the Tamil phrase “Vaaila Vadai Sudardu” to explain this. Opportunities for women are decreasing”, he further mumbled some numbers fumbling all the while.
He continued his tirade and peddled the same lies that the DMK has been peddling all this time. He said, “You waived off all the loans given to Ambani, Adani, and Tata (instead of saying write off)
You never waived off farmer loans but did that only for the rich people’s loans. You brought anti-farmer laws but the people opposed them and you repealed them.”
He again fumbles mentioning numbers about inflation. He claimed that the price of essential commodities was going up constantly, the highest in 30 years. He also added that people were instead losing their savings.
Now comes the anti-TN stance claim. He said, “Last year when the Michaung cyclone hit Chennai, our CM Stalin met PM and asked for ₹7033 crores as relief. ₹12655 crores was also asked. But till now what did we get? Zero. We did not receive even a naya paisa from the “Union” government. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh came to TN to oversee the relief efforts, and even Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also came, she saw, waved her hands, spoke some things, gave interviews, and left without giving even a single rupee. The cruelty of this is that we said we are not asking for your money, just give us from our tax revenue share, our TN’s future Udhayanidhi Stalin asked. He said, we are not asking for your money or your father’s money, just give our tax revenue share. In response to that, our Finance minister held a press conference, and for one hour she lashed out at us. What did she say? That Udhayanidhi Stalin did not speak respectfully, he should not say words like your father’s money or mother’s money. But she didn’t realise that the PM himself once asked if it was your “grandfather’s money”. Didn’t Nirmala Sitharaman find time to advise him? I am asking her, Madam Nirmala Sitharaman, you are speaking about mother’s money, I ask you in return, is it your father’s (thopanaar) money? (Here Dayanidhi Maran has used the word Thopanaar, which is a Tambram dialect directed at the background of Nirmala Sitharaman). If I say that, will it be nice? No, right? It is exactly that, your speech was filled with vehemence.”
“This Lady”
At a protest in Chennai in July 2024 protesting the “neglect” on TN, Maran spoke about Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He said, “The one who reads the budget, every single time, this Nirmala is there no, she always quotes a Thirukkural. This time, she neither quoted a Kural nor Tamil or Tamil Nadu. When they did not get votes from here (TN), they did this. I don’t know where this lady Nirmala Sitharaman studied on this earth. She created a new “East“. She says Bihar is East, Andhra Pradesh is East, and others are not. West Bengal is not East for her, nor is Odisha. Even though Andhra is only a short distance from here, it is east, and we are not. This is cheating. Nirmala Sitharaman has created a new earth.”
He further said, “I asked her, what is this, madam? Why are you saying this? Who elected you? She is not an elected member but a nominated member. So, she is not worried about the problems faced by the people.”
Recalling the floods of 2023 in TN, he said, “When the state was affected by the floods last year, it was a never-before-seen type of flood. The rains hit Thoothukudi in January 2024 after affecting Chennai in December 2023. It was an unprecedented flood. We asked them ₹35,000 crores; they gave us only ₹257 crores. They gave us peanuts and asked us to pick it up. But Bihar got ₹35,000 crores. Last year, Gujarat faced floods. They gave ₹1000 crores the next day without even being asked. Our CM is so great, he said he will ‘save the people whether you give us the money or not.”
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