Tamil Nadu’s Forest Minister K Ponmudy’s misogynistic remarks – laced with caste undertones -have landed Chief Minister MK Stalin and his DMK in controversy, inviting fierce criticism from women’s rights activists, opposition political parties, and even from within the ruling party.
Mr Ponmudy – who Mr Stalin re-inducted into the Cabinet in March last year, after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction and three-year jail term in a 2011 disproportionate assets case – has been sacked as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Deputy General Secretary.
He has not, so far, been sacked from his ministerial post, despite two senior leaders – the DMK’s K Kanimozhi and the BJP’s Khusbu Sundar demanding he be held accountable for “unacceptable” remarks and the ruling party uphold public commitments to women’s rights.
The party post sacking was announced by Mr Stalin, but no reason was given.
The controversy broke after a video of a speech by Mr Ponmudy went viral.
In the video – which NDTV cannot independently verify – he is heard sharing a vulgar conversation, labelled misogynistic and demeaning to women, between a man and a sex worker. He prefaces it with a disclaimer asking women present to not “mistake him.”
The shocking comments have also been called out by popular singer and women’s rights activist Chinmayi Sripada, who said, “This is a joke. The joke is on us.”
This is Minister of Forests, Mister Ponmudi from Tamilnadu. He previously held posts as a Minister for Science and Tech; and Education in Tamilnadu.
He describes a ‘joke’ because apparently there is a ‘market’ for these jokes in a public gathering, about a man who goes to a sex… https://t.co/Szy2YCINsF
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) April 10, 2025
“This is Minister of Forests… Mr Ponmudi from Tamil Nadu. He previously held posts as a Minister for Science and Tech, and Education… He describes a ‘joke’ because apparently there is a ‘market’ for these jokes in a public gathering…” she lamented in a strong X post.
“Such a speech must have demanded the photo of (EV) Periyar in the background,” she said, referring to EV Periyar, the leader of the Dravidian movement that underpins the Tamil political narrative and landscape, and who fought for women’s rights and the eradication of caste.
அமைச்சர் பொன்முடி அவர்களின் சமீபத்திய பேச்சு ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியாதது. எந்த காரணத்திற்காகப் பேசப் பட்டிருந்தாலும் இப்படிப்பட்ட கொச்சையான பேச்சுகள் கண்டிக்கத்தக்கது.
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) April 11, 2025
“This is a joke. The joke is on us. No wonder… they are all hand-in-glove with molester poetttttu. There has GOT to be some sort of a divinity… or Goddess or God… that will punish this and raze this to the ground. But (it) doesn’t look like such a God exists,” she said.
This is not the first time K Ponmudy has courted controversy.
Earlier, he made insensitive remarks about women availing free bus rides and referred to migrant workers as “those selling pani puri in Tamil Nadu.”
This latest Ponmudy controversy comes as the DMK is prepping for a potentially critical Assembly election early next year. The ruling party has, so far, been on the offensive, targeting the BJP (which has historically struggled for traction in the state) on three major fronts – ‘Hindi imposition’, delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies, and the NEET row.
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