Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay has criticised DMK chief and former Chief Minister MK Stalin over his remarks about TVK candidate Sathyabhama during a campaign meeting in Dharapuram, triggering a political row ahead of the Assembly by-election.
Sathyabhama had won the Dharapuram Assembly seat as an AIADMK candidate in the recent Assembly election. The remarks drew sharp criticism from the ruling party, which accused the DMK leader of body-shaming the woman Dalit candidate and demanded an apology. “Under the guise of a campaign public meeting for the Dharapuram constituency by-election, Mr Stalin, the leader of the evil force that is the DMK, has conducted a defamatory and utterly uncivilized gathering. Regarding our Dharapuram constituency candidate, Sister Mrs Sathiyabama, he has resorted to caricature mockery and spoken in the most indecent manner, deriving perverse pleasure from it,” Vijay wrote in a post on X. She resigned from the seat weeks later and joined the TVK. She is now contesting the by-election as the ruling party’s candidate. The reference to Sathyabhama’s physical appearance prompted a strong response from the TVK, with party leaders accusing Stalin of targeting her appearance rather than limiting his criticism to her political decisions. TVK leader and Health Minister Arun Raj also accused Stalin of body-shaming Sathyabhama, saying the remark insulted women and the Dalit community. The party has called on the DMK chief to apologise for his comments.
Stalin referred to Sathyabhama as “Somersault Bhama” while questioning her switch from the AIADMK to the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). He further accused the DMK of repeatedly making objectionable remarks about women and said voters would respond to the comments. “These evil forces, who are experts at speaking obscenely about women, and that too, with women seated right beside them, will receive a fitting retort from the people of Tamil Nadu and the people of the Dharapuram constituency,” he said.
