Chennai: While participating in a debate in Lok Sabha earlier this week, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP D.N.V Senthilkumar S. wondered why the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could only win elections “in the heartland states of Hindi and what we generally call gaumutra (cow urine) states”.
“You (BJP) cannot come to South India. You see all the results of what happens in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka…we are very strong over there,” the first-time MP from Dharmapuri said on 5 December, during the debate on the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill.
The remarks, which came in the backdrop of the BJP’s thumping victory in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, drew condemnation and reproach not only from the ruling BJP but also from Senthilkumar’s own party, the DMK.
Speaking on the floor of the House, T.R. Baalu, the MP from Sriperumbudur and leader of DMK’s parliamentary party, said Senthilkumar had been reprimanded for his comments. “(The) statement made by Senthilkumar was not correct. TN CM (chief minister) M.K. Stalin has warned the particular member,” Baalu said.
Senthilkumar himself apologised for his remarks soon after.
“Commenting on the results of the five recent state assembly elections, I have used a word in an inappropriate way. Not using that term with any intent, I apologize for sending the wrong meaning across,” he said in a post the same day.
But the BJP remains unconvinced and is now demanding an apology from DMK chief M.K. Stalin.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi Wednesday, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: “I heard Mr T.R. Baalu say today that CM Stalin told MP Senthilkumar to not make such statements. But there is a question that has to be asked to Mr Baalu and Stalin: what about Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement? Has he (Stalin) advised Udhayanidhi to apologise? What about A. Raja? Has he advised A. Raja to apologise? Why can’t Stalin apologise?”
Chandrasekhar was referring to controversial statements made by DMK leaders Udhayanidhi Stalin and A. Raja. While the former at an event in September likened Sanatana Dharma with ‘diseases like dengue and malaria’, the latter at an event later that same month termed the Hindu religion ‘a menace not just for India but the entire world’.
As for Senthilkumar, according to the BJP, this isn’t the first time that the Dharmapuri MP has made controversial remarks. Narayanan Thirupathy, vice president of Tamil Nadu BJP, referred to the DMK leader as “a repeat offender”.
“This is not the first time that Senthil has used this term in Parliament. Though the BJP in the state has opposed his remarks and criticism against Hinduism, no action has been initiated against him by the DMK,” Thirupathy told ThePrint.
He was referring to an instance from February 2022 when during a debate on the National Education Policy (NEP), Senthilkumar had said on the floor of the House: “According to this policy, the gross enrolment ratio has to be 50 percent, which TN has achieved long ago.
“If they want to implement this policy, they should implement the Dravidian model for the development of the country. Why is their policy being thrust upon us? We reject it. If they want to implement it, they should do it in their gaumutra states.”
ThePrint reached senior DMK leaders for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
However, one DMK leader said on condition of anonymity that the party has decided to “not comment on the issue any further”, although he called Senthilkumar a “political novice”.
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Senthilkumar the radiologist
Senthilkumar (46) first rose to prominence in 2019 when he beat former Union minister and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) chief Anbumani Ramadoss to win the Dharmapuri seat by 63,460 votes.
The DMK leader who belongs to the influential Vanniyar community and is also a practicing radiologist, is not the first member of his family in public life. His grandfather D.N. Vadivelu Gounder, a Congress leader, was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1965.
According to a DMK worker from Dharmapuri, Senthilkumar is a hands-on MP who makes frequent visits to his constituency. “He is someone who is ready to work beyond the party lines for the welfare of his constituency,” said the worker who did not wish to be named.
As an example, this worker cited an instance from July 2019, when the MP was among the first to congratulate PMK chief Ramadoss and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK) N. Chandrasekaran on their nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
Good news for Dharmapuri Parliamentary constituency. So Dharmapuri has 3 MPs to represent .One DMK LokSabha MP., Rajya Sabha MP Chandrasekar from Mettur representing ADMK,and @draramadoss from PMK, Let's all 3 work to eradicate unemployment in DPI and emphasize on water projects
— Dr.Senthilkumar.S (@DrSenthil_MDRD) July 6, 2019
His track record in Lok Sabha, too, is noteworthy. According to PRS Legislative Research, one of the few MPs with 100 percent attendance, he has participated in 280 debates, raised 471 questions in the house, and also moved six private member bills.
A second DMK worker from the district called Senthilkumar a “down-to-earth person”.
“He always likes to acknowledge people, hugs them, makes them feel comfortable and important,” he said. According to this DMK worker, it was Senthilkumar who helped get the first mobile tower to a hilly panchayat of Sitheri, Dharmapuri, in 2022.
“Remarks for which he got brickbats were mostly those that Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy), the father of the Dravidian movement, had already professed before,” the worker added.
BJP’s Thirupathy claims DMK’s intervention in the latest controversy involving the MP from Dharmapuri was prompted by the general election next year. “Senthilkumar is a repeat offender, an anti-Hindu personality, and the DMK is an anti-Hindu party,” he told ThePrint.
Thirupathy added, “The DMK has never stopped him before. Suddenly now they are intervening and apologising because they are afraid of the upcoming elections.”
‘Repeat offender, anti-Hindu personality’
Even in the past, Senthilkumar has courted controversies with his comments including the ones he made while opposing a bhoomi puja (groundbreaking ceremony), or his remarks on Hindu epics Mahabharat and Ramayana, as well as Hindu gods and goddesses.
In a video he posted on X, then Twitter, in July 2022, Senthilkumar was seen losing his temper over a groundbreaking ceremony held for a road project.
“Do you know you are not allowed to do such things for a government programme? Where are other religions? Where is the Christian and Muslim representation? Invite the Christian pastor, an Imam, invite those who do not profess any religion, the atheists, the Dravidar Kazhagam representatives?” he can be seen yelling in the video.
He then asks the crowd to clear out before telling the officials present there, “Never contact me for such events. This is the Dravidian model of governance. Include all faiths if you are going to do such rituals.”
The video was shared on X with the caption: “Trying to keep my cool. At times they make me lose my patience”. Among those who reacted to it was Congress leader Karti Chidambaram, who had termed it a “totally unwarranted outburst”.
ஒரு அளவுக்கு மேல் என் பொறுமையை சோதிக்கிறார்கள்.
Trying to Keep my cool.
At times they make me to lose my patience. pic.twitter.com/l1gHdhYkQa— Dr.Senthilkumar.S (@DrSenthil_MDRD) July 16, 2022
In May this year, while participating in an event organisation by social outfit Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK), Senthilkumar made remarks on Hindu gods Krishna and Rama, which elicited sharp criticism from many quarters.
In the video, which he posted on X, the DMK MP is heard saying: “I would like to quote a few examples of rationalism here. Will any parent allow their child to steal the clothes of women bathing in the river, secretly enjoy watching them bathe, and then refuse to return their clothes? What do we call them when it’s happening right now? This is exactly what lord Krishna did. If he does this now, he will be arrested for eve-teasing”.
He went on to add, “Similarly, in Ramayana, lord Rama constructed a bridge on the ocean to reach Sri Lanka to bring back Sita. But how did Ravana reach India? Did he build any bridges? No. So who is more powerful? It is Ravana who is more powerful than Rama.”
Talking about the Mahabharat, Senthilkumar said, “Five men marry a woman. We don’t know what kind of mindset they have. They gambled by keeping that woman as a bet. When the online gambling bill was introduced, the Governor referred to it as a game of skill. So, what kind of skill did those five people possess while betting their wife away?”
Then, in an interview with a Tamil channel in July, he was heard talking about the differences in Hindu rituals as practiced in northern and southern India. “In the north, Shiv and Parvati’s family stops with Ganesh. Only if you come down south, they know they also have Murugan. We don’t know if family planning happened there,” he had said at the time.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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