DMK's Senthilkumar.
Credit: X/@DrSenthil_MDRD
To say that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Senthilkumar's statement has hit a new low in parliamentary discourse is a cliché because our elected representatives time and again lower the bar further in a desperate effort to make a point.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat has expunged the statement from House records and the DMK has 'strongly condemned' the MP. From a record-keeping perspective, these are good steps, but the damage is done. For the secretariat to initiate severe action in this case would be an unusual response from its side and the BJP would be forked-tongued to cry blue murder. This is because an equally abominable statement by a BJP MP made recently on the floor of the House was not condemned with the gravity it warranted. A decision on this is caught in a procedural air pocket.
The DMK must act against Senthilkumar for his statement, despite his half-hearted apology. The DMK, as would any political party in the Opposition, is free to oppose — politically and ideologically — the ruling BJP. It's the tone and tenor of expressing this difference that matters.
The Dharmapuri MP's remarks reflect a sense of superiority and cultural and religious vanity which ridicules the religious beliefs and political choices of sections of the population. At another level, his statement further lends credence to the narrative that there is a growing North-South divide in India.
The political fallout of this regrettable statement is manifold. Expect the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to use this as a political tool, which will make the DMK a political millstone for the Congress and other I.N.D.I.A alliance parties that associate with it. This statement follows shortly after the DMK backed to the hilt its leaders who made critical statements against Sanatana Dharma. The discontent this made among its followers was one of the many factors that may have helped the BJP in the just-concluded assembly elections.
(X: @vijucherian)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH