Soon after backlash over his 'ask your mother' comment against Tamil Nadu CM C. Joseph Vijay, state BJP chief Nainar Nagendran clarified that his remarks had been taken out of context, and that he meant no harm.
He also pointed out that what he had said earlier, at the book launch event of Oru Naadu 2.0, had been "twisted and misrepresented" for political gain.
"I did not speak targeting anyone with any ulterior motive. I am one who holds immense concern for the mother, for the motherland, and for the mother tongue," he wrote in an X post on Saturday.
What happened at the event?
While telling a "kutti kathai (short story)" about DMK supremo M.K. Stalin, CM Vijay had allegedly mocked Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, asking him where his father was during the 2026 Assembly polls, in which the party lost power in the state.
Mocking the repeated use of the 'father' jibe, Nagendran remarked that if one wanted to find their father, one should ask their mother at home.
The remarks drew sharp criticism from TVK minister Rajmohan Arumugam, who condemned his comment as “uncivilised speech, slanderous, and unfitting a leader’s stature".
A lawyer named Varthini from Chennai went one step ahead, filing a complaint at the office of the Chennai Director General of Police, which urged that a case be registered against him.
She had also pointed out that such comments on Vijay and his mother entering the public domain could even cause law-and-order problems in the state.
Apart from Opposition parties, even former BJP chief and We The People movement founder K. Annamalai criticised the remarks, saying that they were made in poor taste.
“Politicians must be responsible for their words and actions. Differences of opinion can exist; policies can be criticised; government actions can be questioned. But speaking in a way that degrades someone’s family, especially their mother, is unacceptable in any way," he said, as per a Federal report.
Notably, this is also not the first time that Nainar Nagendran has faced flak for his remarks.
During the Assembly election campaign, he had made comments linking actress Trisha Krishnan with Vijay, which drew heavy criticism, as would be the case months later with Udhayanidhi Stalin.
He also once described deaths reported at TVK rallies as a “good omen", which majorly shocked people, given that many people died at the Karur rally stampede last year.
