Political commentator and editor of the Tamil journal Thuglak S. Gurumurthy’s tweets posted against Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam have evoked sharp reactions from the ruling camp, apart from attracting criticism on social media.
Referring to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)’s decision to take action against supporters of rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Monday, Mr. Gurumurthy, on his Twitter handle, described them as “weak men” and “impotent leaders.”
In a chat with reporters at the Secretariat on Tuesday, D. Jayakumar, Fisheries Minister, condemned Mr. Gurumurthy and warned of legal action against him. “No potent men would flaunt what they possess. He (Mr. Gurmurthy) should have exercised restraint in his language,” the Minister said.
‘Mind your words’
The ruling party’s information technology wing secretary Singai G. Ramachandran, in his response to Mr Gurumurthy’s Tweet, told him: “mind your words.” He wondered what the latter had achieved in public life to use the controversial term against others. “Can you pl tell why [the] BJP got lesser [sic] votes than NOTA [in the byelection to the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency] ?”
Later in the day, Mr. Gurumurthy, through a series of Tweets in Tamil, stated that his original Tweet was in English and he had used the term, “impotent,” in a political context. He argued that the word was even permitted in the Australian parliament and he provided a link to the online version of the transcript of a debate that took place in the House of Representatives in August 2009.
He said the Minister lacked understanding of the term and added that he was ready to face any legal action.
