DMK's A. Raja Draws Backlash for Personal Attack on CM Vijay Amid MISA Row, Withdraws Remarks

The war of words between the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the opposition DMK over Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's Assembly remarks on DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi and party president M.K. Stalin escalated on September 12, when Tamil Nadu Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar challenged Stalin to produce documentary proof of his detention under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the 1975-77 Emergency, questioning the circumstances of the arrest.

Responding at a DMK protest meeting in Chennai the same day, party deputy general secretary and Lok Sabha MP A. Raja made a personal attack on Nirmal Kumar, making a derogatory remark about his parentage, and described Chief Minister Vijay as "not a great actor but a great scoundrel."

The remarks drew swift condemnation from TVK functionaries as well as from allies of the ruling coalition, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). Facing the backlash, Raja withdrew his comments in a post on X on September 13, saying he had no hesitation in taking his words back, although the post retained a combative tone.

On September 14, CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretary P. Shanmugam said Raja's speech deserved strong condemnation and that it was intolerable for DMK leaders to keep making derogatory remarks about women. He asked how DMK president Stalin could remain silent, pointing to the party's stated ideals of duty, dignity and discipline.

VCK leader and Minister for Social Justice Vanni Arasu condemned both Raja and former minister V. Senthil Balaji over derogatory remarks, saying the DMK, which speaks of duty, dignity and discipline, was now marked instead by ferocity, hatred and helplessness.

Tamil Nadu HR&CE Minister S. Ramesh also weighed in on September 14, accusing the DMK of having an "obscene and derogatory" political culture.