He is no stranger to controversy. When Income Tax Department officials were at the house of Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C. Vijayabhaskar last year to search his residence at Greenways Road in Chennai, he came out with his two daughters in tow and paraded them to the media. He said “I am not able to send my daughter to school. The IT officials are disturbing me and my family,” he said, as emotions seemed to overflow.
Vijayabhaskar—who is accused of being one of the most tainted ministers in the cabinet of Edapadi K. Palanisamy even by AIADMK members—is once again in the limelight for allegedly making sexist remarks, which have been caught on camera.
Vijayabhaskar was approached by a woman journalist in Chennai who wanted comments from him on developments in a late evening meeting of AIADMK MLAs at the party headquarters.
When asked what transpired at the meeting by the journalist, who works for a regional channel, Vijayabhaskar responded, “Your specs are very nice...” When the reporter continued to press her question, “Sir, what did you discuss in the meeting?,” he again said, “Your specs look good.”
The reporter immediately retorted, saying, “I am wearing specs every day. Tell me what you discussed in the meeting?”
However, instead of responding to her questions, the minister declared, “You look beautiful, you look beautiful, you look beautiful,” as he walked down to get into his car. The reporter who followed him with her microphone seemed helpless because of his shocking remarks that were seemingly aimed at evading the question and stopping her from posing more queries.
“Commenting on a woman’s appearance in the workplace is sexist and more of harassment,” observed senior journalist Induja Raghunathan.
While the reporter’s identity has not been revealed, the minister’s comments have sparked a row among woman journalists in Tamil Nadu.
Later on Friday, Vijayabhaskar apologised for the incident when a group of journalists met him at his residence. "To me, all journalists are my brothers and sisters. There was no intention behind making such a comment," he claimed.