CM Vijay Apologises in Assembly After Minister Ranjith Kumar Omits Honorifics for Karunanidhi

A row broke out in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on August 18 during a debate on grant demands for the Revenue and Health departments, after Forest Minister R.V. Ranjith Kumar referred to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi simply by name, without the customary honorifics used in the House.

Kumar was criticising past electoral practices, including the so-called "Thirumangalam formula" for cash-for-votes campaigning, when he referred to the DMK patriarch as "Karunanidhi" instead of using titles such as "Kalaignar" or "former Chief Minister" — a long-standing informal convention in the Assembly when referring to former Chief Ministers, including Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa.

The remark drew immediate protest from DMK members, who objected to the breach of decorum on the floor of the House.

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay intervened to defuse the situation, conceding that referring to the late leader without the customary honorifics was wrong, and offered an explicit apology on his minister's behalf to bring the protest to a close.