A fierce backlash over the derogatory and misogynistic remarks made by a senior DMK minister, K Ponmudy, linking sex workers to religion, forced party president and Chief Minister MK Stalin to strip him of his post in the DMK.
Though replaced with Tiruchy N Siva, Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s propaganda secretary as the deputy general secretary of the DMK, Ponmudy will continue to be in the cabinet as the minister for forests and khadi industries.
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The stringent action against the senior party leader followed a viral video clip of the minister linking commercial sex workers and Hindu religious symbols with sexual positions while speaking at an event organised by the ‘Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam’ on April 6 in Chennai. The event was part of the centenary celebrations of ‘Thiruvarur’ Thangarasu, a trusted lieutenant of rationalist reformer and Dravidian icon, ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy.
This is not the first time that Ponmudy caused an embarrassment to the party leadership by putting his foot in his mouth. But this time around, Stalin decided to crack the whip on him.
Interestingly, the chief minister’s announcement, axing Ponmudy from the second-rung leadership position, was silent on making public the reason for the drastic action taken against a party veteran. Also, unlike the usual announcements of disciplinary action made by the party general secretary, currently held by senior most minister in the cabinet, K Duraimurugan, this has come from the party president himself.
Ponmudy was re-inducted into the cabinet last year after he secured a stay on his conviction and sentence from the Supreme Court in a 2011 wealth case. On his re-entry, he had been divested of the Higher Education portfolio and instead entrusted with Forests.
Within the DMK there was a rising chorus to rein in Ponmudy. Condemning Ponmudy’s remarks as totally unacceptable, Kanimozhi, MP and also one among the party’s Deputy General Secretaries, made clear her disapproval. Acting swiftly, Stalin had taken the decision to strip Ponmudy from the party’s higher echelon so that it did not provide fodder to the opposition.
