The DMK stripped its senior functionary and Forest Minister K. Ponmudy of the post of deputy general secretary on Friday (April 11, 2025), after a video clip of his derogatory remarks on women went viral on Thursday (April 10).

A terse statement from DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin issued on Friday said that Mr. Ponmudy was relieved of the post of the party deputy general secretary.

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A few hours earlier, DMK deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi had condemned certain controversial remarks made by senior party leader and Minister K. Ponmudy in a public forum.

“The recent speech made by Minister Ponmudy cannot be accepted. Irrespective of the reasons for the speech, the derogatory speech is to be condemned,” Ms. Kanimozhi said in a social media post.

A video clip of Mr. Ponmudy’s comments, linking Hindu religious symbols of Saivism and Vaishnavism to offensive references, made during a public event on April 6, went viral on social media on Thursday.

Senior BJP functionary Narayanan Thirupathy had posed a question to Mr. Stalin on social media, whether he wanted Mr. Ponmudy to continue in his Cabinet.

Earlier in May 2022, Mr. Ponmudy who was then the Minister for Higher Education, while speaking at the convocation of Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, took a jibe at Hindi-speaking pani puri sellers in Coimbatore and across Tamil Nadu, questioning the job prospects of those who learn Hindi.

Four months later, the Minister courted controversy again in September when he made insensitive remarks during a public meeting, on women travelling for free in government buses, a flagship scheme launched by the DMK government after it came to power in 2021.

Replacement named

In another statement, Mr. Stalin named senior DMK functionary and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva as the party’s deputy general secretary. Mr. Siva was relieved of the post of party’s propaganda secretary.