An interview with senior DMK leader Duraimurugan telecast by Jaya TV – until some months ago seen as a mouthpiece of the AIADMK – on Sunday raised many eyebrows in political and social circles considering the animosity between the two Dravidian parties and given the fact that late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had accused the DMK leader of having assaulted her in the Assembly in 1989.
Mr. Duraimurugan himself was surprised when he got a call from from a journalist of Jaya TV last week for an interview.
The DMK leader told the journalist that though he had no objection in acceding to his request, he would still be making critical observations about the AIADMK and Jayalalithaa. The response that Mr. Duraimurugan got was that there was no need to view the TV channel as an arm of a political party; rather, it should be seen just as a media organisation. “After this explanation, I agreed to give an interview,” Mr. Duraimurugan told The Hindu on Monday, a day after the interview was telecast. He added that he did not watch his interview.
The former Minister, in his interview, was critical of the present government including Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.
Asked for reaction, Thangatamilselvan, one of the prominent supporters of T. T. V. Dhinakaran, said the telecast of the interview need not be seen negatively, as the DMK leader was also asked why his party did not celebrate the birth centenary of M.G. Ramachandran, who was with the DMK before founding the AIADMK.
