CHENNAI: Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Sunday called upon party members not to continue their protests against the TNCC president EVKS Elangovan, condemning his unsavoury remarks about the meeting she and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in Chennai on August 7.
“Realising the fairness in the agitations staged by AIADMK cadre, Elangovan had issued a statement saying his remarks were wrongly understood. Although his response is unconvincing, indirectly he had agreed his remarks were indeed indecent. I know well that the AIADMK cadre have been staging demonstrations to express their pain and anguish over the remarks of Elangovan. Since you have already expressed your sentiments through the demonstrations, I appeal to you (AIADMK cadre) not to continue the agitations against Elangovan any more,” said Jayalalithaa in a statement.
Further, the AIADMK supremo said Elangovan had been expressing inappropriate views for some months to keep himself and the Congress party, which is facing splits, in the limelight as people had rejected it at the hustings.
“Perhaps Elangovan might have made such remarks for sensationalising or to malign me or when he lost his balance. But the remarks are strongly condemnable,” she added.
Leaders of various political parties, including the BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan, Congress leader S Thirunavukkarasar, MMK MLA MH Jawahirullah and SDPI welcomed Jayalaithaa’s appeal to her party workers.
Elangovan, at a public meeting in the city on August 14, had made indecent, uncultured and vulgar remarks on the meeting between Jayalalithaa and Modi.
Pointing out that the cadre of AIADMK and BJP, general public, and students had been protesting and condemning Elangovan for his remarks, Jayalalithaa recalled that when the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry’s website carried an objectionable news item in August 2014 on her letters to Modi on the fishermen issue, all political parties had condemned it. The Lankan government withdrew the item and even apologised.