Chennai:
AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran on Thursday attempted to punch holes in Chief Minister Vijay's larger-than-life persona, bolstered by his illustrious film career, by calling him a "villain in real life". The former MP waded into the row triggered by the TVK chief's gesture in the Tamil Nadu Assembly -- which the DMK construed as a slight at MK Stalin's jaw injury -- and said his "body language and words" suggested that "he's clearly not a good man".
Dhinakaran's reaction to Vijay's gesture -- which he denied making -- was sharper than even those of DMK leaders, as he called the chief minister "self-centred" and an "evil man"."Vijay is a hero only in films. In real life, he is a big villain," he said.
"This is becoming clear -- as Thirumavalavan says -- through his body language and words. If you thought the film hero Vijay was a good man, he is clearly not. He's an evil man and self-centred. He would offer anyone as a sacrifice for his own good," he said.
Ever since Vijay took over the reins of the state from MK Stalin after his party, TVK, made a stellar election debut, Tamil Nadu's political narrative has devolved into a series of personal attacks. While the opposition, including M. K. Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin, tried to corner Vijay over his association with actor Trisha, the chief minister allegedly made fun of the DMK chief's jaw injury, which Stalin had sustained during his incarceration in 1976.
The TVK chief's gesture drew angry responses from the DMK.
Vijay called it "an accidental expression".
"My body language was an accidental expression. I want to make it known that it was not in any way intentional," he said on Wednesday.
His clarification, however, proved inadequate in laying the controversy to rest.
Today, MK Stalin led the onslaught from the front, as he not only attacked Vijay but also explained the history of the jaw injury that was allegedly mocked.
In a video statement, he reminisced about his arrest in 1976, after the Karunanidhi-led DMK government was dismissed during the Emergency (1975-77).
"We faced several forms of cruelty in prison. They put us with lepers. Ten of us were locked up in a small room. We had one urinal in the cell. There was a stench all around, and we had to sleep there anyway," the former chief minister recalled.
Detailing the "torture", Stalin added: "Police wouldn't let us sleep at night. They would hit us with lathis and boots. They deployed life convicts to beat us. Chitti Babu, an MP who was with me, died in jail. In that assault, my jawbone broke. "The DMK chief trashed Vijay's clarification that he had not made the gesture.
"Didn't you gesture with your hand pointing at your jaw? Even today I have the scars of the blows I received. I don't deny it. For many in public life, particularly many who struggled for Tamils and Tamil Nadu, this kind of clampdown has happened, and all of us have gone through these experiences. It's nothing new for us to struggle and face consequences. "
He asked Vijay to read Tamil Nadu's history and that of the DMK.
"This is the history from the days of Annadurai, whom you call your inspiration. That is the history of the DMK, and I am proud to be part of it. "
"Read about my life, my struggle. You don't know the truth," he added.
