Even leaders of the BJP, whose state unit chief the culprit Nainar Nagenthran was, chastised him for making such a derogatory statement against a woman
By calling out a mighty leader of a powerful political party for showing disrespect, actress Trisha Krishnan has earned praises from many. That the actress was needlessly dragged into the controversy by a 65-year-old male politician was no laughing matter. Yet many other women in her place would have been advised and impelled to just ignore it and move on. But not Trisha, who slapped a legal notice, earning kudos from many, including people from the political class.
Even leaders of the BJP, whose state unit chief the culprit Nainar Nagenthran was, chastised him for making such a derogatory statement against a woman. While that smart reply of Nagenthran, asking Vijay, the founder of the fledgling party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), to come out of Trisha’s house was nothing but crudity given the fact that Vijay has been accused by his detractors of not stirring out of his Panaiyur bungalow, it earned him no political brownie points.
The politician was also forced to eat his words, for which the entire credit should go only to Trisha for boldly calling him out. A former state minister and seasoned politician with a background of party hopping, Nagenthran might have hoped to get away with the statement like several other politicians who have been let off the hook after speaking ill of other women politicians, including towering personalities like Indira Gandhi and J. Jayalalithaa. Perhaps Nagenthran did not realise that the times have changed and not all women will allow themselves to be treated as objects of vilification anymore when a random question was being raised on some male politician’s aspiration.
The groundswell of support that Trisha has received from people across the ideological divide in the latest controversy is also a sign of the conventional political narrative changing course in Tamil Nadu that has seen top male politicians casually coming up with flippant remarks, even in the Assembly, to denigrate women. It might no more be the norm, thanks to Trisha.
