CHENNAI: Senior DMK leader RS Bharathi on Tuesday criticised the police after Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin was detained over his alleged defamatory remarks against CM Vijay, calling the action illegal and asserting that the DMK leader had not referred to actor Trisha during his Cauvery protest speech.Speaking to the media, Bharathi said, “He has been arrested for doing his duty. Despite the court telling not to arrest after 12 noon, he has been arrested. This is contempt of court. There is no law and order in Tamil Nadu. They will have pay for this. The people will not tolerate this. We will counter this. He did not mention the name of Trisha.”Earlier in the day, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan had also defended Udhayanidhi, saying his speech was being misrepresented and contained nothing insulting.“I listened to his entire speech. Nothing was said as people are saying. He only listed out the CM’s failures. Nothing was insulting in his speech. He did not even mention the name of the actress (Trisha). He was only attacking the govt. The problem with this govt is that they don’t care about people of Tamil Nadu. They are being used by someone to attack DMK. Their party started only to attack us,” Elangovan said.The controversy began after Udhayanidhi led a protest in Thanjavur against the TVK government’s handling of the Cauvery water-sharing dispute and Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu dam project.During his speech, a section of the crowd chanted actor Trisha’s name. Udhayanidhi then said, “The water should come there, irrespective of where it is supposed to come from,” before adding, “No. I was referring only to the Cauvery.” The remarks went viral on social media, with several political leaders alleging that they carried a double meaning.Leaders from the BJP, Congress and TVK criticised the remarks and demanded an apology. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Women’s Wing also filed a police complaint in Thanjavur, alleging that the comments were derogatory towards women.
