Home News The DMK’s Dirty Legacy: A History Of Derogatory Remarks Against Women

The DMK’s Dirty Legacy: A History Of Derogatory Remarks Against Women

By
The Commune
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dmk history of derogating women abuse

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has a history and that history is loaded with its leaders derogating and abusing women. Their late patriarch himself was a ‘shining’ example of that.

Why are we talking about this – on 3 August 2026, the DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin sparked a controversy during a DMK-organised protest over the Cauvery water issue after remarks made during his speech were interpreted by critics as a double entendre involving actor Trisha.

Addressing the gathering, Udhayanidhi criticised Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, saying, “… but today not one drop of water has come. Is the chief minister of the state opening his mouth about this? Has he said anything about this? He is not speaking. What is his only worry? When it comes to the DMK, his only worry is to think about what false case against us. Whether water comes to us or not, it must reach ‘there’. I was talking about Cauvery water.”

As he was making the remarks, sections of the crowd began chanting “Trisha, Trisha,” in an apparent reference to actor Trisha. After the chants, Udhayanidhi smiled before adding, “I was talking about Cauvery water,” and continued with his speech.

Let us now take a look at the history of the DMK in abusing and derogating women.

M Karunanidhi

The party’s late patriarch himself has a bad reputation of being a womenizer, misogynist and making obscene remarks about women.

During the anti-Hindi agitations, DMK men at the behest of Karunanidhi had wall writings that said:

அத்தை மகள் தமிழ் இருக்க
ஆசை நாயகி ஆங்கிலம் இருக்க
ஊர் #தேவுடியா ஹிந்தி எதற்கு?
Which means
When you have your cousin sister whom you are entitled to marry (referring to Tamil),
when you have your good concubine/woman you desire (referring to English),
why do you need a whore (referring to Hindi)?

Her ‘Menstrual Blood’

Once during a protest staged by the DMK in Madurai, Congress leader Indira Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister at the time, was hit in the head and started bleeding. When asked to comment about the injury, Karunanidhi had perversely said that it would have been ‘menstrual blood’ that could have leaked for Indira Gandhi.

Lift The Petticoat

In another incident, a female Congress MLA called Ananthanayaki had questioned in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, as to where the so-called Dravida Naadu (Dravidian country) was after a lengthy speech given on the same topic by CN Annadurai.

Karunanidhi in a disgusting response told Ananthanayaki “If the naada (thread) is removed and paavadai (petticoat) is lifted, she can find her Dravida Naadu.”  However, DMK folks subvert this sexual speech saying that Karunanidhi meant the “thread” that is tied to the government file, and by paavadai he meant the cloth on which “urgent” would be written.

I Can Help Her Have Kids

Karunanidhi also went on to criticise former CM Late Jayalalithaa after he had consistently lost to her, saying that she will no longer be able to have kids since her best years were behind her, and said that he would have helped her have kids if she had asked him.

He had also said that she knew a lot of languages because she was in ‘that kind of a job’, hinting at prostitution as Jayalalithaa had her career as an actress.

Annadurai

Despite the fact that Annadurai excelled in governance with his talents like public speaking and writing, he was caught in a controversy after he was allegedly involved in an affair with a famous actress. Unlike today’s politicians who would have vehemently denied such accusations, Annadurai, who was the state’s Chief Minister at the time, commented on this issue saying, “I’m not a monk. I have my own desires, and I am human. Neither was she a woman of chastity.”

This is the same man who is now being conferred titles like ‘Perarignar’ (renowned scholar).

Duraimurugan

On March 25, 1989, the Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed a shameful episode when Duraimurugan who was then a Minister in the Karunanidhi government assaulted Jaylalithaa and pulled her saree.

She was physically attacked by DMK MLAs as she made her way out of the House.

Karunanidhi, then the chief minister, reportedly threw expletives at her after she called him a criminal in Tamil.

Dayanidhi Maran

DMK MP from Chennai Central constituency Dayanidhi Maran was campaigning in the Kinathukadhavu constituency for the party’s candidate Kurichi Prabhakaran during the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.

During the campaign, the DMK MP 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 (AIADMK) will make a huge hue and cry.”

Udhayanidhi Stalin

This was not Udhayanidhi’s first brush with derogating women.

Udhayanidhi Stalin made disgusting remarks about Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s appointment as Chief Minister saying that he would have ‘gone inside Sasikala’s legs’ to get the post of CM.

“This is the problem I face whenever I go for campaigning too. I try to say ‘Edappadi’ government, immediately someone from the crowd says ‘Edupudi aatchi’ [slave government]. I wonder whose slave.. Modi’s slave. From another side another man shouts it is not ‘Edupudi’, it is ‘deadbody’. [again laughs]. That is how he was lying down at the feet of Sasikala right! He went under the table, chair to fall at her feet. Given the chance, he would have gone inside her legs as well!” Udhayanidhi Stalin made a tongue-in-cheek remark with a smile to which DMK cadres can be heard laughing and clapping.

TRB Rajaa

In September 2025, addressing an event at Ethiraj College for Women, Rajaa stated, “Don’t think that today, just because your parents are educating you, you are easily able to access education. In India, women did not get opportunities for education so easily. 100 years ago, there were unimaginable situations where women were not even considered equal human beings. This kind of situation exists in many parts of North India even now. You should be socially aware. Especially if you are a woman in India. There is a difference between being a woman in Tamil Nadu and in any other state in India. I will very very proudly say this. No other state is on par with Tamil Nadu in this regard. The situation remains unchanged in North India. Very simple question. In North India, when we meet a woman, the first question is, where does your husband work? In Tamil Nadu, the question asked of a woman is, where do you work? This change doesn’t happen overnight. It took a century of work, at least in Tamil Nadu.”

He argued that in Tamil Nadu, women are recognized and respected for their careers, whereas in many North Indian states, societal attitudes still focus primarily on a woman’s marital status.

PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan

In what can be called as a behaviour unbefitting for a person holding public office, Madurai Central MLA and Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan unleashed abuses and made personal attacks on Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan who had called out the former for insulting Goa during the 43rd GSR Council meeting.

Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan had condemned the behaviour of Palanivel Thiagarajan’s behaviour at the GST Council meeting and called it an insult to democracy.

To this, the DMK Minister remarked if the BJP woman MLA was a ‘congenital liar’ or a person with ‘low IQ’.

He later blocked the then-BJP woman MLA and went on to justify it saying, “I block you like a normal person closes a window to avoid bad smell”.

RS Bharathi

RS Bharathi, the Organizational Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), made derogatory comments about late AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa and her aide Sasikala.

Speaking at an event held in Ambattur in Chennai in February 2021, RS Bharathi said “Recently, Jayalalithaa’s memorial hall was opened on January 27. They gave ₹40,000 per bus from all over Tamil Nadu. They gave ₹2000 to those who boarded the bus. They picked them up and dropped them off at Marina Beach. Edappadi and OPS thought that the whole crowd would come to the Jayalalithaa memorial. But the crowd thought, instead of visiting that ‘moodhevi’ (a derogatory slang in Tamil), they visited Kalaignar’s [Karunanidhi’s] memorial”.

Speaking further about CM Palaniswami, RS Bharathi said “When Udhayanidhi Stalin spoke, he said that you fell at the feet of Sasikala and became CM. But Udhayanidhi is facing a case for that. EPS went between the 2 legs of the table and then went below her 2 legs and fell down”.

Ponmudi

While speaking at a function recently, DMK Minister K. Ponmudi belittlingly reminded women members in the audience about the ‘free bus scheme for women’ introduced by Stalin government.

“For you only 4000 rupees per card. Did he (Stalin) give or not? You got it right? Open your mouth and say. You got 4000 right? How are you going in bus today? If you want to go from here to Koyambedu or anywhere, you are going in ‘OC’ (free). You are going in ‘OC’ bus.”, he said.

In April 2025, the then-DMK Minister Ponmudi made offensive remarks targeting Shaivite and Vaishnavite communities. The video, which surfaced on X, captured Ponmudy making a crude analogy involving a prostitute to mock the religious practices of these Hindu sects, drawing sharp criticism for its insensitivity and vulgarity.

In the video, Ponmudy recounted a supposed interaction between a man and a prostitute, where the woman asks the man if he is a Shaivite or a Vaishnavite. According to Ponmudy, the prostitute explains that Shaivite means “lying down position” (referencing the horizontal tilak worn by Shaivites) while a Vaishnavite means a “standing position” (referencing the vertical tilak worn by Vaishnavites).

Saidai Sadiq

Entering this hall of fame is foul-mouthed DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadique who made derogatory and misogynist comments targeting women leaders of the BJP Tamil Nadu.

Saidai Sadiq said,”How will you expand the BJP in Tamil Nadu? The BJP has four actresses. Khushbu, Namitha, Gayathri Raghuramm, Gauthami. We built the DMK party in North Madras with strong leaders such as TR Balu and Balraman in the past, and Elaya Aruna in the present.”

He referred to all four Tamil Nadu BJP actresses as prostitutes, saying, “We built the party with strong leaders, but if you look at the leaders in the BJP, all four women are ‘items’ (prostitutes).”

He also made sexual innuendos about Khusbhu obliquely stating that the DMK leader Elaya Aruna had sex with Actress Kushboo several times.He used the word “Potrukiraru (போட்டிருக்கிறாரு)” – a Tamil cuss word used to mention having sex.

Dindigul Leoni

In the run up to the 2021 Assembly Elections, Dindigul Leoni who was the party’s propaganda secretary spoke disparagingly of women, comparing their figure to that of barrels, and said that if they had to obtain the figure resembling the number 8, they should stop drinking the milk of imported cows.

This man who had made these sexist remarks was later made the head of the Tamil Nadu Textbook & Educational Services Corporation by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

A Raja

During the peak of the election campaign in March 2021, DMK Lok Sabha MP and the party’s deputy general secretary A. Raja spoke ill of then CM Palaniswami’s mother when he was canvassing in support of DMK candidate Ezhilan in the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai.

He had said that MK Stalin, who had worked as a grassroots volunteer in the party and rose to become the Chief Ministerial candidate, was a golden child born from a healthy relationship, while Palaniswami was born illegitimately.

He said, “Our DMK leader Stalin is the leader who was born of pure blood and as a fully grown healthy baby, as well as by legitimate means, whereas Edappadi Palaniswami was born premature, and was born out of an illegitimate relationship.”

After denying to have derogated Palaniswami’s mother, he once again repeated the same words at a meeting in Cuddalore.

Sivaji Krishnamoorthy

This person would probably be the most foul-mouthed member of the DMK.

In 2023, addressing an audience, Krishnamurthy began by expressing his disdain for Khusbhu Sundar, a former DMK member (and present BJP member) who had defected to another party. He admonished those aspiring to be actors, cautioning them against following in Khusbhu’s footsteps.

“If one wants to pursue acting, they must not emulate Khusbhu. She is my old sister-in-law (pazheya Anni), now she is akin to an old vessel that has been refurbished for reuse,” Krishnamoorthy proclaimed.

In January 2026, at a public meeting held in Coimbatore, ‘responded’ to criticism from Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief, actor Vijay, who had alleged that women were not safe in Tamil Nadu.

He said, “This party believes that if women rise, the nation will rise. That’s why we frame our schemes. In India, if 100 women are working, 45 of them are from Tamil Nadu. There are 29 states and nine Union Territories – put all of them together. If out of 100 working women, 45 are from Tamil Nadu, then he asks there is no safety, no h*air, where is it not safe for women? I’m asking you, Vijay. Hey, have we done anything to Trisha? Isn’t she safe? But I cannot give the level of safety you give her. We have 1 police for 50 people, sir. You sit with one leg over the other, head resting on their lap, flying in private jets.”

Surya Vetrikondaan

Surya Vetrikondan, a DMK spokesperson stirred fresh controversy in May 2025 during a Tamil prime-time debate by using vulgar double-meaning language. While trying to defend the DMK against anti-incumbency claims, he resorted to crass insinuations about women that were not only inappropriate but also deliberate, even after the host cautioned him.

Surya Vetrikondan commented, “They keep talking about high anti-incumbency—Sir, the ‘aunties’ are doing just fine. The ‘aunties’ have been corrected and properly…,” said with clear innuendo. Host Hariharan immediately intervened and said, “Speak with caution, brother,”

But Surya doubled down and said, “Sir, I’m telling you, sir, there is no problem with anti-incumbency, as the aunties are perfectly have decided that there is no one to protect women except the DMK and all the aunties are absolutely al right. You all do not worry; if you have the courage and the guts, go and stand up to them and respond to that statement.”

MM Abdulla

In 2023, in light of the migrant worker issue in Tamil Nadu, actress Kasthuri Shankar tweeted sarcastically, “It was an exaggerated claim that Tamilians attack north Indians. Tamil Nadu is a land that welcomes migrants and helps them thrive. Be it Telungar, Vadugar, Malayali, or from Mysore, or even if they travelled on a train without a ticket, they would not be beaten up and chased out, instead, they would be seated on a throne.”

Though she did not specifically name anyone about who travelled without tickets to Tamil Nadu, it is a sly remark on how Karunanidhi came to Tamil Nadu from Andhra, as told by his old friend and legendary writer Kannadhasan in his biography.

In response to Kasthuri Shankar’s tweet, the then-DMK Rajya Sabha MP from Pudukottai, MM Abdulla, shared a Facebook post a few days ago attempting to indirectly abuse Kasthuri Shankar and her family.

MM Abdulla wrote on Facebook, “You’re saying Kalaignar didn’t have a ticket. However, there is no documentation of him saying this on any platform, nor has the TTR of the alleged train Karunanidhi travelled on stated anything about this claim anywhere. There is one additional option apart from the above-mentioned ones!!”

The only proof would possibly be that your grandmother would have travelled with Karunanidhi on the same train and would have narrated to you that “Kalaignar and myself only had ran away from home and took that train,” he stated.

This Facebook post of DMK MP Abdulla drew criticism a few days ago from people who lambasted him of sharing an offensive tweet about women.

In March 2022, DMK supporters circulated a doctored image of political commentator Savukku Shankar, edited to make him look like a pimp standing outside a brothel.

Responding to this morphed image row, DMK Rajya Sabha MP MM Abdulla escalated by sexually degrading the scenario further, suggesting Shankar should have been depicted as a sex worker on Marina Beach charging for specific sexual acts – a vulgar embellishment he offered unprompted, not something he was asked to clarify.

In another tweet, he abused a female journalist Sonia Arunkumar, who also spoke against the cyber harassment meted out by a few Dravidian Stockists. Linking Savukku Shankar and Sonia Arunkumar sexually, DMK MP MM Abdulla said,” I’m now a member of Parliament. Had I been a troll master like before… I would have posted the ‘Kaathal’ movie meme template showing them (Shankar and Sonia) as ‘Maama and Maami, a good combination’. Now that I am an MP I should not do that. It is wrong.”

Not An Aberration, A Continuation

The latest Udhayanidhi episode is not an aberration, it is the latest chapter in a long history of DMK leaders using women as political punchlines, insults and objects of ridicule. From Annadurai and Karunanidhi to the present generation, the pattern has remained remarkably consistent. The only difference this time is that the remarks attracted immediate legal consequences. For decades, controversies involving senior DMK leaders ended with denials, justifications or political outrage. This time, they ended with an FIR and an arrest. That, more than anything else, marks the difference between political impunity and accountability.

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