"Will face it legally": Detained over TVK complaint over Trisha remarks, Udhayanidhi Stalin says "fake news being propagated"

Speaking to reporters following his detention, Udhayanidhi denied making any derogatory remarks and said the controversy was the result of edited and misleading content being circulated.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Leader of Opposition and DMK MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was on Tuesday taken into police custody over his alleged remarks over the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's friendship with actor Trisha, alleged that a "fake narrative" was created against him. The Thanjavur (East) police today took the DMK leader into custody from his residence in Neelankarai in Chennai and taken to Thanjavur, where he is expected to be questioned in connection with an FIR registered over his public address at a Cauvery protest meeting yesterday.

Udhayanidhi Stalin has been booked under 61, 79, 192, 196, 296(b), 351(2), 352 of BNS, 4 of TN Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act, 67 of IT Act. Speaking to reporters following his detention, Udhayanidhi denied making any derogatory remarks and said the controversy was the result of edited and misleading content being circulated.

"They have propagated fake news by using 'Cut, Copy, Paste' to claim I said something I never said. I am not the kind of person to be intimidated by all this. I will face it legally," Udhayanidhi Stalin said." He said the police action against him was a "comedy". The controversy erupted after Udhayanidhi, while addressing the gathering, was interrupted by sections of the crowd chanting "Trisha, Trisha." Pausing briefly, he allegedly remarked, "Whether the water reaches anywhere else or not, it should reach there," before clarifying that he was referring to the Cauvery water.

Following the remarks, the women's wing of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) lodged a complaint at the Thanjavur police station, alleging that the DMK leader made a double-entendre remark targeting actor Trisha. Udhayanidhi's remarks also triggered sharp political reactions, with BJP and TVK leaders demanding an apology from Udhayanidhi, while the DMK has maintained that his comments have been misrepresented and did not refer to any individual.

TVK MLA Rhevanth Charan termed the remark "disgusting" and accused the DMK leadership of lowering the standards of political discourse. "Absolutely disgusting. Passing such disgraceful comments against anyone is completely unacceptable. It exposes the mindset, political culture, and declining standards of the Arivalayam clan. Your announced protest collapsed even before it could begin. Now, desperate for attention, you have resorted to cheap provocation and engagement farming. This is precisely why the people of Tamil Nadu rejected you and confined you to the position you are in today. Continue with this arrogance and indecency, and you will soon be erased from public relevance altogether. Even by Arivalayam's already abysmal standards, this is a new low," Charan said.

The DMK has, however, said that Udhyanidhi's comments were only directed at "government's failures". "DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said, "I listened to his entire speech. Nothing was said as people are saying. He only listed out the CM's failures. Nothing was insulting in his speech. He did not even mention the name of the actor. He was only attacking the government. The problem with this government is that they don't care about people of Tamil Nadu. They are being used by someone to attack DMK. Their party started only to attack us." (ANI)