Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay apologised in the Assembly on Monday after a minister referred to former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi by name without using the customary honorific. The remark prompted an immediate protest from the opposition DMK, which accused the minister of violating established decorum.
Vijay intervened to defuse the situation and acknowledged that the late leader had been addressed inappropriately. “I apologise on his behalf,” the 52-year-old actor-turned-politician said after Forest Minister RV Ranjith Kumar referred to Karunanidhi without using titles such as “Kalaignar” or “former Chief Minister”.
The controversy erupted during a discussion on the demands for grants for the Health and Revenue departments. During his speech, Ranjith Kumar criticised the practice of distributing cash for votes, referred to the controversial “Thirumangalam formula” and claimed that as much as Rs 1,500 had been distributed per vote during previous elections in his Kancheepuram constituency.
The minister contrasted those elections with the current administration, claiming that the Vijay government had come to power without distributing money in exchange for votes.
However, while discussing what he described as election practices of the past, Ranjith Kumar referred to the DMK patriarch simply as “Karunanidhi”. This was contrary to the longstanding practice in the Tamil Nadu Assembly of using formal honorifics when referring to respected political leaders.
The omission triggered loud protests from DMK legislators, led by former minister KKSSR Ramachandran. As the situation became tense, Vijay interrupted Ranjith Kumar’s speech and accepted that referring to Karunanidhi in that manner was inappropriate.
His apology brought the immediate disruption to an end, allowing the Assembly debate to continue.
