DMK, CPM demand action against CV Shanmugam for alleged vulgar remarks on women's schemes

The backlash against AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP and former Minister CV Shanmugam's alleged derogatory comments equating Tamil Nadu's women empowerment schemes to "handing out wives for free" intensified on Tuesday (October 14), with sharp condemnations from Tamil Nadu's Minister for Social Welfare Geetha Jeevan and CPM Central Committee Member Bala Bharathi.

Both leaders urged strict legal and party action, highlighting a pattern of misogyny within the opposition ranks.

Shanmugam’s alleged remarks

Shanmugam's remarks, delivered at an AIADMK booth agents' meeting in Villupuram on October 12 have gone viral on social media, sparking outrage.

"Pongal will end, and the Assembly election date will be announced soon. We have only three or four months left. Many announcements will come - free mixies, grinders, goats, cows, and why not, even a wife per person? If you vote, they'll give them for free," he sneered, crudely linking government welfare to commodifying women.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu govt’s welfare schemes spark clash with Centre

Geetha Jeevan slams AIADMK, NDA

TN minister Geetha Jeevan lambasted the AIADMK for its "deep-seated malice and cruelty towards women”.

Geetha told The Federal, "Shanmugam has demeaned women by calling them 'freebies' like 'pondattis' (wives). The party's twisted hatred stands fully exposed."

She referenced AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's past insult, where he mocked the “Vidiyal Payanam” (free bus travel scheme) for working women's safe night-time travel as 'lipstick-painted buses'.

"Palaniswami's sycophant spews the same venom. If Jayalalithaa were alive, Shanmugam would be out of politics. But the spineless Palaniswami can't even reprimand him," said Geetha.

She extended the critique to the broader NDA-BJP alliance too - actress Khushbu called the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai aid "begging money"; PMK's Anbumani Ramadoss quipped, "Who needs your Rs 1,000?"; and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman derided flood relief as "handouts that won't advance the nation."

"They're not uniting against DMK; they're conspiring to destroy women," Geetha Jeevan charged.

Also Read: TN Budget: Economist slams AIADMK's debt trap claim, praises welfare schemes

CPM demands legal action

Echoing the fury, CPM central committee member and leader Bala Bharathi demanded the Tamil Nadu government file a legal case against Shanmugam.

"The government must register a case and take stringent action against this insult to women," she said in a statement from Villupuram.

Bharathi detailed the viral clip's impact and the All India Democratic Women's Association's (AIDWA) district response, "The Tamil Nadu government is implementing countless schemes for women - Vidiyal Payanam, Magalir Urimai Thogai, self-help groups, Pudhumai Penn - which have uplifted women's economic status. Yet Shanmugam insults them by equating women to freebies."

Also Read: TN Budget: Can TN continue welfare schemes amid rising debt and Centre's cold-shoulder?

Fake video, claims AIADMK

AIADMK IT Wing has denied the allegation against CV Shanmugam, saying "The Visuals/ News Card being spread on social media in the name of party organisation secretary and former minister CV Shanmugam are entirely fake. Legal action will be taken against those creating and disseminating it with malicious intent." Shanmugam himself remained silent, but sources close to him claimed that the full context was satirical criticism of "populist promises," not misogyny. As the 2026 Assembly polls loom, the DMK is weaponising its pro-women record, while AIADMK faces internal calls for discipline amid alliance strains.