Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday said that his body language of touching his jaw as if to lift it during his response to the police department’s grant request in the Legislative Assembly on Monday was "involuntary" and "completely unintentional".
Referring to his expression in the State Assembly on September 7, when he targeted the main opposition DMK over alleged corruption based on official ED documents and the Sarkaria Commission report of the 1970s, Vijay in a statement said: "My body langauge was an involuntary expression. I would like to make it known that it was not in any way intentional."
Further, he said: "Therefore, I kindly request that it should not be interpreted as an act intended to hurt anyone's feelings on a personal level."
Vijay's posture of holding his jaw -- with one hand -- as if to lift it one way became the point of discussion on social media.
Some claimed that the chief minister was mocking DMK president MK Stalin as it was he who had suffered an alleged jaw fracture during his incarceration during the infamous Emergency (1975-77).
However, whether or not the DMK chief suffered such an injury during his imprisonment is not known. Against this background, Vijay clarified that his expression was out-and-out unintentional.
Earlier in the day, senior DMK leader EV Velu alleged that the chief minister mocked the DMK leadership's incarceration under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency, using theatrical body language and gestures to trivialise the "sacrifices of DMK veterans".
Following the ruckus over the references made by Vijay regarding the DMK in the House on Monday, Speaker JCD Prabhakar on Tuesday ordered the eviction of the main opposition party's MLAs.
With the Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessing a ruckus and the eventual eviction of DMK MLAs on Tuesday, party chief MK Stalin questioned the way the proceedings were being conducted.
Speaking to journalists at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, where DMK legislators assembled after being evicted from the House, Stalin was asked whether the current Assembly was being conducted with "dignity".
(With inputs from PTI)