Furore over Udhayanidhi’s Sathankulam visit
CHENNAI: The visit of DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin to the house of Sathankulam double death victims has stoked a controversy in the principal opposition party. Even some seniors admitted that the DMK president’s son’s visit was untimely and even if done with good intention, it would only be construed as an attempt to steal the attention his aunt and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi has been garnering since last week. It has led party insiders to speculate if Stalin junior was growing envious and attempting to negate the growth of his aunt.
A DMK insider privy to the development said that Stalin junior had left to Thoothukudi even without his father advising him to do so. “Being the MP of the constituency, she does not need anyone’s consent to visit the aggrieved family on behalf of the party. Moreover, the party president had instructed her to do whatever is necessary there. So, Kanimozhi went full throttle. Even the leadership was appreciative of the job she is doing in Sathankulam. But, the visit of Udhayanidhi was unexpected. His father did not ask him to visit either,” said a party insider who did not wish to be named.
“Probably, he grew envious of the aunt’s good work. Or he must have been personally moved by the gravity of the incident and visited without his father’s nod. It does no big damage to the party politically. Only the timing of the visit has fuelled a political debate within and outside the party,” said a party senior requesting anonymity.
Curiously, the young gun’s enthusiasm has not deterred Kanimozhi who has taken her fight to new heights every passing day. Kanimozhi has surprised onlookers by wearing a mask bearing the phrase “Justice for Jayaraj and Bennix,” on Monday. As if that were not enough, the DMK women’s wing secretary, who has been camping in her constituency for four days till Sunday, shot another letter (second in a week) to the NHRC to take suo motu cognizance of multiple incidents of alleged police brutality by policemen associated with Sathankulam police station. Referring to the death of one Mahendran of Peikulam allegedly due to injuries sustained in Sathankulam police custody, Kanimozhi also faulted the district SP for intimating the double custodial death to NHRC within 24 hours and said that it showed motive of the authorities to suppress and cover up custodial deaths.