Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay apologised in the state Assembly on Monday after state Forest Minister R V Ranjith Kumar referred to former chief minister M Karunanidhi by name without using the customary honorific "Kalaignar", prompting protests from opposition DMK members.
Vijay intervened to defuse the tension, acknowledging that referring to the late DMK leader without the traditional honorific was inappropriate.
"I apologise on his behalf," Vijay said, after halting Ranjith Kumar's speech.
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What triggered the DMK protest
The incident occurred during a debate on the demands for grants for the Health and Revenue departments.
Minister Ranjith Kumar was criticising past cash-for-votes practices and referred to the controversial "Thirumangalam formula". He claimed that up to Rs 1,500 per vote had been distributed in his Kancheepuram constituency during previous elections.
The minister contrasted those elections with the current administration, saying the present government came to power without distributing money for votes.
While referring to past election strategies, however, Ranjith Kumar mentioned the name of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi simply as "Karunanidhi", without using "Kalaignar" or referring to him as a former chief minister.
The reference drew immediate and loud protests from opposition DMK members, led by former minister K K S S R Ramachandran.
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Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has a long-standing convention of using formal protocol titles while referring to revered leaders. The DMK objected to the omission of the customary honorific for Karunanidhi.
As the protests threatened to derail the debate, CM Vijay intervened and stopped the Forest Minister mid-speech. The chief minister conceded that addressing the late leader in such a manner was wrong and offered an explicit apology on the minister's behalf.
The apology brought the tension in the Assembly under control.
