Udhayanidhi Stalin, Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, has drawn sharp criticism over a remark made at a public meeting on Monday that critics say was an offensive reference to the actor Trisha.
Udhayanidhi was attacking Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, saying the state had not received a single drop of Cauvery water while the chief minister remained unconcerned.
Someone in the crowd then chanted “Trisha, Trisha”. Udhayanidhi paused his speech and, smirking, responded with what news agency PTI described as an offensive double entendre. The remark has since drawn a strong political reaction.
Cross-party criticism
Tamil Nadu BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy called the comment “disgusting, obscene, vulgar and shameful”.
“Truly, even a rogue or thief who has a mother, wife, and daughter would not speak so vulgarly,” he wrote on X, adding that it was shameful that former Chief Minister M. K. Stalin had not acted over the remarks.
MLA Rhevanth Charan also criticised the comment on X, calling it “absolutely disgusting” and saying that “passing such disgraceful comments against anyone is completely unacceptable”.
The Daily Mirror carried the report, sourced to Indian media and PTI. Udhayanidhi had not issued a public response at the time of that report.
Trisha Krishnan is one of the most established actors in Tamil cinema, with a career spanning more than two decades. Chief Minister Vijay, whom Udhayanidhi was criticising when the exchange occurred, entered electoral politics from a long career as a Tamil film star.
