MK Stalin performed a parody of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa during the campaign for the Tamil Nadu polls.
Chennai:
In the campaign for the Tamil Nadu polls next month, a parody of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her candidates was performed by DMK's MK Stalin to a captive audience on Monday.
Mocking the notoriously imperious chief minister, Mr Stalin demonstrated to a party gathering how AIADMK candidates conduct themselves in their leader's presence. He was laboring the point that DMK candidates have dignity, which is denied to AIADMK men.
Mr Stalin bent down with folded hands, mimicking what he called the stance of AIADMK candidates when the Chief Minister is on the stage.
"She sits on top. Fifteen candidates are seated like slaves on a stage underneath," he said, getting laughs from his party workers.
He also took a dig at former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, a Jayalalithaa loyalist who took charge of the top job briefly when she was convicted of corruption but never once sat in her office or occupied her chair.
"This situation continues in the assembly too. There would be no chair for him but O Panneerselvam would appear to be sitting. We should learn this from them. Look at the kind of humiliation...," said the DMK leader, referring to Mr Panneerselvam hunching his shoulders deferentially.
Jayalalithaa's party has reacted with indignation.
"Amma treats us as children. We are free. Slaves are only in the DMK to collect bribe and pay his family," said AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi.
An AIADMK candidate, Mafoi K Pandiarajan, also defended his chief. "Amma is the tallest leader in Tamil Nadu. It's not true that only those who are subservient go anywhere in the party. There are people who keep their heads high, extremely competent and they are also part of the government," he said.
Jayalalithaa is not known to share the stage with any other leader. She uses a special table and chair that is carted to every venue she visits. Her candidates stand before her, always on a lower level.
In the 2014 national election, pictures of AIADMK ministers and functionaries genuflecting before Jayalalithaa's chopper as it landed and took off provoked ridicule.
Mocking the notoriously imperious chief minister, Mr Stalin demonstrated to a party gathering how AIADMK candidates conduct themselves in their leader's presence. He was laboring the point that DMK candidates have dignity, which is denied to AIADMK men.
Mr Stalin bent down with folded hands, mimicking what he called the stance of AIADMK candidates when the Chief Minister is on the stage.
"She sits on top. Fifteen candidates are seated like slaves on a stage underneath," he said, getting laughs from his party workers.
He also took a dig at former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, a Jayalalithaa loyalist who took charge of the top job briefly when she was convicted of corruption but never once sat in her office or occupied her chair.
"This situation continues in the assembly too. There would be no chair for him but O Panneerselvam would appear to be sitting. We should learn this from them. Look at the kind of humiliation...," said the DMK leader, referring to Mr Panneerselvam hunching his shoulders deferentially.
MK Stalin bent down with folded hands to mimick what he called the stance of AIADMK candidates when Jayalalithaa is on a stage.
Jayalalithaa's party has reacted with indignation.
"Amma treats us as children. We are free. Slaves are only in the DMK to collect bribe and pay his family," said AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi.
An AIADMK candidate, Mafoi K Pandiarajan, also defended his chief. "Amma is the tallest leader in Tamil Nadu. It's not true that only those who are subservient go anywhere in the party. There are people who keep their heads high, extremely competent and they are also part of the government," he said.
Jayalalithaa is not known to share the stage with any other leader. She uses a special table and chair that is carted to every venue she visits. Her candidates stand before her, always on a lower level.
In the 2014 national election, pictures of AIADMK ministers and functionaries genuflecting before Jayalalithaa's chopper as it landed and took off provoked ridicule.
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