Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Saturday dismissed as "fabricated," an audio clip in which he is claimed to have made certain comments about the ruling DMK's first family.
BJP state president K Annamalai had shared the clip on his Twitter page recently, claiming Rajan made some 'revelation' about the assets of DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin's son Udhaynidhi and son-in-law Sabareesan.
In a two-page statement uploaded on his Twitter handle, PTR, as Rajan is addressed, described the audio clip as "malicious, fabricated," and asserted anyone could make such clips with the help of technology.
Describing him as a "strong proponent" of free speech", PTR said he hasn't responded to many accusations but that he was forced to do this time. "So I am forced to react at this juncture because one social media post has now been re-broadcast to lamentable positions; it has been repeated and amplified by unscrupulous political players...." he said.
"Please note that publicly available technical analysis of the alleged clip clearly shows it is not authentic," PTR added.
"With the ability to create fabricated and/or machine-generated clips using advanced technology that is easily accessible, we should not be surprised to see more audio and even video clips in the coming days and months with ever-more malicious content," he said.
He stated that if the threshold of "slander" were to be crossed, "I will be forced to take action."
Rajan credited Stalin for whatever he was and has done in public life and asserted "no malicious attempts to divide us will ever succeed."