Dharmapuri MP S Senthilkumar, one of the educated and proactive MPs of the DMK, on Tuesday apologised for his comment dubbing the Hindi heartland as ‘Gaumutra’ States following a reprimand by party leader M K Stalin and criticism from not just the BJP and AIADMK but also from the DMK’s ally, the Congress.
Senthilkumar's comments
A doctor by qualification, Senthilkumar, while commenting in the Lok Sabha on the recent victory of the BJP in the Hindi heartland of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, was derisive about the same. “The people of this country should think that the power of this BJP is only winning elections mainly in the heartland states of Hindi, what we generally call the ‘Gaumutra’ states,” he had said.
The ‘Gaumutra’ is a common term in Tamil Nadu used by pro-Dravidian forces to describe the right wing against the backdrop of some leaders of the BJP and its affiliate organisations hailing the “medicinal properties” of cow urine.
“You cannot come to South India"
“You cannot come to South India. You see, all the results of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka. We are very strong over there. We will not be surprised if you have an option of converting all these states as Union Territory so that you can come to indirect power. Because you can never dream of setting foot over there and taking control of all the southern states,” the MP had said.
Following backlash, the DMK second line leader R S Bharathi in a statement said, DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin had reprimanded the MP. He advised party functionaries to guard against such comments in public domain, more so while commenting on all-India issues.
Senthilkumar apologises
In a post on X, Senthilkumar said, “Commenting on the results of the five recent state assembly elections, I have used a word in a inappropriate way. Not using that term with any intent, I apologize for sending the wrong meaning across.”
Earlier, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, had called Senthilkumar’s choice of words very unfortunate. “Unparliamentary. Senthilkumar must forthwith apologise and withdraw his comments,” he said.
TNCC working president Mohan Kumaramangalam too disapproved of the comments.
