The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday welcomed the arrest of Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tamil Nadu’s Leader of Opposition, who had courted controversy for his unsavoury remarks involving actor Trisha during
a DMK rally in Thanjavur.
Taking to X, Amit Malviya, the party’s IT Cell chief, said it was time Stalin “met this fate”. “The man who abused Sanatan Dharma, has been arrested for his vile and slanderous remark involving a woman. It was time he met this fate,” he said.
Tamil Nadu BJP’s chief media coordinator Narayanan Thirupathy echoed the sentiment, saying the court will decide “whether it is freedom of speech or the dignity of women!”
THE ARREST
The controversy began during a DMK-led protest over the Cauvery river water dispute in Thanjavur, where Stalin launched a sharp attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. During his speech, he allegedly made remarks that were interpreted by the ruling TVK as derogatory and personally offensive, including references that opponents linked to actor Trisha. The comments triggered a political storm, with the TVK accusing the DMK leader of using vulgar language and insulting women.
Following complaints by TVK functionaries, police registered an FIR against Udhayanidhi Stalin under multiple provisions, including those relating to insulting the modesty of a woman and promoting enmity. TVK has also approached the National Commission for Women (NCW), demanding action against the DMK leader, while calling for statewide protests over the remarks. Anticipating arrest, the DMK leader moved the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail before being detained by Chennai Police on Tuesday along with several DMK workers.
The DMK, however, has dismissed the case as politically motivated. Party leaders have accused the Vijay-led government of attempting to silence the Opposition through police action, arguing that the speech was political criticism linked to the Cauvery issue, farmers’ protests and the state’s governance. The party has also questioned the timing of the FIR, alleging it is part of a broader pattern of targeting opposition leaders since the TVK came to power.
THE SANATAN DHARMA CONTROVERSY
The BJP’s reference to Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Sanatan Dharma remarks goes back to a controversy that erupted in September 2023, when he was a minister in the Tamil Nadu government and a senior DMK leader.
At a conference in Chennai, he had said Sanatan Dharma should not merely be opposed but “eradicated”. He also compared Sanatan Dharma to diseases such as dengue, malaria and coronavirus, saying: “Some things cannot be opposed; they have to be eradicated. We cannot oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria or coronavirus. We have to eradicate them. Likewise, we have to eradicate Sanatan.”
Stalin later clarified that he was referring to what he described as the caste-based and discriminatory practices associated with Sanatan Dharma, not to people who follow Hinduism. He said his remarks had been misrepresented and insisted he had spoken against social inequality rather than religion itself.
The BJP, however, accused Stalin of insulting Hinduism and Hindu beliefs, calling for the destruction of a religion, and hurting the sentiments of millions of Hindus.
Multiple complaints and FIRs were filed in different states against him, alleging that his remarks promoted enmity between religious groups and hurt religious sentiments.
