BJP TAKES JIBE AT KANIMOZHI

BJP national secretary H Raja, known for his acerbic tongue, on Wednesday, drew the ire of politicians and civil society by making a reference to DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s daughter and Rajya

Sabha MP Kanimozhi as an “illegitimate child.’’ Kanimozhi was born to Karunanidhi’s third wife Rajathi Ammal with whom he had an affair when he was a minister in the first DMK cabinet headed by C N Annadurai. Soon after her birth, when a MLA took a jibe at Karunanidhi in the Legislative Assembly asking who Rajathi Ammal was, the DMK veteran came up with a master play of words saying,

“Rajathi Ammal is my daughter Kanimozhi’s mother”. Against this backdrop, Raja who was seemingly upset at tough questions posed to State Governor Banwarilal Purohit at a press conference a day earlier, tweeted asking if journalists would dare to pose similar questions to a “leader who had nominated his illegitimate child to the Rajya Sabha?” While he did not name Kanimozhi, the reference was obvious and drew strong reaction from DMK cadres who set Raja on fire in effigy at different places. One DMK functionary warned to cut off Raja’s tongue. BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan tweeted her disapproval of Raja’s comment saying women in public life should not be attacked personally. Kanimozhi said this showed the male chauvinistic mind set of the BJP leader and other men in general. Former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram tweeted saying “There is no such thing as an ‘illegitimate child.’ All children are perfectly legitimate. Will the BJP please explain where it stands?” Several other leaders issued statements condemning Raja but the latter remained unapologetic.