'Are You A Man?': S Gurumurthy Says He Turned OPS Against Sasikala

BJP ideologue and editor of Tughlak magazine S Gurumurthy has once again courted controversy by saying that he was the one who sparked the revolt inside the AIADMK, prompting the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam to carry out the 'Dharmayudham' in 2017.

S Gurumurthy, who is also one of the board members of the Reserve Bank of India, was speaking at the golden jubilee commemorative event of the magazine and a video of his speech talking about Panneerselvam and the latter’s revolt in 2017 has gone viral.

"They (AIADMK) had made all arrangements to make VK Sasikala as the chief minister in the University Hall. OPS was told to go and supervise the arrangements, see if the place is clean etc. He came to me. I cannot elaborate on the manner I spoke to him. I asked him if he was a man. He asked me what else to do.cI told him to go and sit at (Jayalalithaa's) samadhi and that he will get some idea," Gurumurthy is heard saying.

Stating that he had a role in unifying the two factions of the AIADMK — the Edappadi Palaniswami faction and the O Panneerselvam faction — Gurumurthy also said that his statement to Panneerselvam to sit on a protest at Jayalalithaa's memorial prompted a change in Tamil Nadu.

“From morning to evening, at least ten people from AIADMK will come and tell me to do something (to unify the two factions),” he added.

Slamming DMK in his speech, Gurumurthy said that it was the main force that is acting against Tamil Nadu's development.

"Of both AIADMK and the DMK, AIADMK is the lesser evil. But we cannot accept Edappadi Palaniswami and the corruption of a group...the difference between the two parties is not corruption, it is about who is indulging in corruption," he said, adding that until family rule prevails, no kind of development can take place.

AIADMK Reacts to Gurumurthy’s Speech

Gurumurthy's comments, however, evoked sharp response from the AIADMK. On Monday, Tamil Nadu's Minister for Fisheries D Jayakumar said that Gurumurthy must control his speech while talking about Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

He also added that Gurumurthy had previously attacked AIADMK and had often been snubbed for that.

At the event, Gurumurthy also went on to speak about actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth's anticipated entry into politics and said that only he can bring in change.

“Tamil Nadu will change for the good only through its people... Only Rajinikanth’s political entry can change Tamil Nadu and not Article 356 of the Constitution,” he added.

This is not the first time S Gurumurthy has stoked controversy through his words. In 2017, in a series of tweets, he had called Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam as “impotent leaders” and “weak men” in the backdrop of RK Nagar bye-elections.

(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)