- 2 days ago
The political controversy over actor Trisha Krishnan’s presence at Chennai’s 80th Independence Day celebrations has intensified, with her being drawn into a wider political battle involving her friend, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay.
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00:00Good evening, this is NewsTrack and we are starting with some piece of breaking news which is coming in now.
00:05Former Delhi Minister Satendra Jain has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
00:10The arrest has been made in the connection of the Delhi Jal Board scam case.
00:14Five others arrested by the ACB are all officials of the Delhi Jal Board.
00:18In fact, this has led to political war of words breaking out as well.
00:24With Amadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal hitting out at the BJP over the arrest saying that the nation remembers the
00:30terrible ordeal that Jain was subjected to when he was imprisoned previously.
00:35The earlier case was fabricated and this one too will prove to be false.
00:41He has gone on to say that the BJP is dictatorial in its behaviour.
00:47We are being joined by Amit Bhardwaj who is tracking this case very, very closely.
00:52So, I am looking at what has been put out as the press release by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
00:58They are speaking about the complaint of the Directorate of Vigilance which has led to this arrest.
01:04Give us the details.
01:06Maria, if you would remember sometime back as well, there was, you know, arrest and investigation that was launched by
01:14the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the National Capital
01:16into the alleged irregularities in this Delhi Jal Board case.
01:20And the Bhardwaj Janata Party has been speaking of this particular case for a couple of years now at least.
01:27More so when the heat on the Amadmi Party was at its peak during the ED arrest and the, you
01:36know, liquor gate case.
01:37But now, Arvind Kejewal and Amadmi Party are maintaining that this particular case that the ACB has arrested Jain E2
01:46pertains to a time,
01:48this is Amadmi Party saying, that pertains to a time when Jain was not even being charged of the department
01:53and rather he was in the jail.
01:55Now, Arvind Kejewal has made a very clear statement saying that like the earlier cases, this particular case is also
02:02propagated.
02:03He has also gone on to mention as to how Satinder Jain has already gone through a lot of audio
02:09during his arrest in the different money laundering case
02:14in which he has seen his health parameters actually going down.
02:19So, it is interesting that Amadmi Party is also pointing out at the timeline that, look, Satinder Jain is the
02:26co-in-charge of Punjab
02:28and Punjab is ready for election.
02:29And now, this entire activity from the agencies have started.
02:35All right, Amit.
02:35I appreciate your time.
02:36Thank you for joining us.
02:38Shifting focus to the show topic tonight.
02:42Independence Day celebrations, remember, across the country have sparked fresh political battles.
02:48From Delhi to Chennai, the script seems the same, politics turning personal.
02:52On the 80th Independence Day, actor Trisha Krishnan attended the celebrations at Fort St. George in Chennai
03:02where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay hoisted the national flag.
03:05Several videos from the event have since gone viral, but one in particular has set off a political storm
03:11where Trisha is seen saluting Vijay as he passes by in his official jeep.
03:17DMK mouthpiece, Murisoli, has launched a sharp attack on Vijay over Trisha's presence at the event,
03:25calling the episode vulgar and disgusting and saying the dignity of the Chief Minister flew away in the wind, quote
03:32-unquote.
03:32And this is not an isolated controversy.
03:35First, Trisha's birthday post for Vijay, then her presence at his oath-taking ceremony,
03:42and now the Independence Day salute.
03:44Trisha's every appearance around the Chief Minister now seems to acquire a political meaning.
03:51But the question tonight is, why target Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay through Trisha?
03:56And why do women so often become easy targets in political battles?
04:02Before I bring in the guests, here's a report.
04:08DMK and Deriding Women, a political playbook that refuses to go away.
04:13From political attacks to personal jibes, the line between politics and personal targeting
04:19is once again under scrutiny in Tamil Nadu.
04:23The latest name to be pulled into the political crossfire, actor Trisha.
04:30What began as a ceremonial salute has now turned into a political slugfest.
04:42At the 80th Independence Day celebrations, actor Trisha was among the guests at Chennai's Fort St. George,
04:50where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay hoisted the national flag.
04:56She was seated in the front row alongside Chief Minister Vijay's parents.
05:01A video from the ceremony shows Trisha saluting Vijay as he passed by in his official jeep.
05:10DMK mouthpiece Murasoli has strained its guns on Chief Minister Vijay over the salute.
05:17In a scathing editorial, Murasoli said, Vijay's dignity flew away in the wind,
05:23accusing him of making an actress sit in the front row and exchanging repeated salutes with her.
05:31The editorial also mentioned that Chief Minister has no shame or hesitation left.
05:37It went a step further, calling the act disrespectful and disgusting,
05:42and claiming that even those who voted for Vijay could not digest that sight.
05:49VIPs were sitting.
05:50So, a person who is an actress, who is not a VIP,
05:57was meant to sit along with the VIPs.
06:00That is what is questioned.
06:02And this is not the first time Trisha, who never ventured into politics,
06:06has been pulled into political crossfire.
06:12BGP Tamil Nadu chief Nainan Nagendran had gone personal,
06:16saying Vijay needs to come out of Trisha's house.
06:19And AIADMK leader Udayakumar joined the attack,
06:23asking, when will Trisha be made Deputy Chief Minister?
06:28L
06:49বরർན বྲੴས বકીོད বાહિ� Vaat- Zie o日 y as the
07:10Meanwhile, ex-BJP leader K. Annamalai while speaking at the India Today Tamil Nadu roundtable strongly defended Vijay and Trisha,
07:19saying that there is no place for personal and derogatory remarks, especially on women.
07:29Politicians are still not ready to listen to it. Still, they don't want to go back to that old ways,
07:34abusing, pulling a lady, pulling a mother.
07:37They want to have this kind of thing because they believe genuinely it creates a TV TRP.
07:42From a ceremonial salute to political babs, Vijay and Trisha have now found themselves at the centre of yet another
07:50unsavoury Tamil Nadu political storm.
07:54But this latest war of words raises a bigger question.
07:58Is political criticism increasingly turning into personal attacks on women?
08:03And as Trisha is dragged into the political crossfire yet again, another question looms.
08:09Is targeting her now a way to take a swipe at Chief Minister Vijay?
08:14With Anaka Keshav, in Chennai, Bureau Report, India Today.
08:20And joining me on the show tonight, Kasturi Shankar, actor and BJP leader, Vaishnavi Prasad, writer and social activist.
08:26Sanjana Galrani is an actor.
08:29We have Brinda Adige, women's rights activist.
08:31I'm going to begin with you, Kasturi.
08:33Murusali never criticised Vijay's policies.
08:36It criticised where Trisha was sitting and how many times she smiled at him.
08:42What exactly is this nature of politics?
08:46Yeah, it's very crass.
08:48It's very cheap.
08:49It's very misogynistic.
08:51And it's also very short of political policy, actually.
08:59Because if they had something to criticise about his politics, they wouldn't make an entire headline out of this.
09:05That said, let me first clarify that Murusali has been criticising Vijay on his other actions as well.
09:12But this is, you know, Maria, this has been an issue from the day, from the Independence Day parade, from
09:21that moment onwards.
09:23Because you have to understand that in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Vijay is not seen as the chief minister of Tamil
09:31Nadu.
09:32He is seen as a brother.
09:34He is seen as an uncle.
09:36He is seen as a family member.
09:39So people do not say this is, there is no, the lines between politics and personal life have always been
09:48blurred in Tamil Nadu.
09:49From the time of Kamaraj, from the time of MGR, from the time of Kalinger Karna Nedi Jailalitha, Purachita Lvi
09:59Jailalitha, everybody, Mr. EPS, during the last parliamentary election campaign, they dragged his mother into it.
10:10DMK dragged his mother into it and said some real cheap stuff.
10:15And he cried.
10:16You, you know, you have, you have also faced public judgment as a woman in both cinema and politics.
10:23Does this language feel like editorial critique to you?
10:28Okay.
10:29See, this public criticism, I've seen that most people, actual real public people don't really judge.
10:37Usually, you get all these judgments either from Kras, yellow journalists, or, you know, tabloid paparazzi, or you get it
10:46from political critics who have a bone to pick with you.
10:50And then they, you question them and they will say, who are you to question us?
10:55Are you perfect?
10:56And so, that makes it all go away, you know?
10:59And I, I, yeah.
11:01Yeah, I bring in Vaishnavi on this because this is textbook.
11:05Wound the man by attacking the woman beside him.
11:08Why does that tactic still land with audiences in 2026, Vaishnavi?
11:15I think it's just typical misogyny fed into the society, right?
11:19We are still a massively patriarchal society.
11:22It's, it's men get attacked for what they do, but women get attacked for who they are and the men
11:26they are associated with.
11:28We've constantly fed this narrative and politicians in the limelight using this kind of language, you know, towards women, misogynistic
11:37language in the mainstream media influences the masses.
11:40When you have movies that promote misogynistic ideals and narratives, I think the masses get influenced and it just is
11:48just a cycle that we're not able to break.
11:50It's, it's like, you know, I mean, attacking Paul, like you said at the beginning of this segment, attack the
11:55policies, attack the incompetence, attack the corruption, attack the hypocrisy.
11:59But no, we want to attack the mother, the sister, the wife, the daughter.
12:03And we always want to just make the woman the center, make her character the problem.
12:08It's, it's typical.
12:11And yes, that's very typical.
12:14And Morisoli here has used words like shameless and repulsive that, that an actress is sitting in the front row.
12:21Why is it really shameless and repulsive?
12:23What is so repulsive about it?
12:27Honestly, I don't understand why this is happening over and over again.
12:32And we seem to be platforming this narrative as well.
12:36The question is always to the woman.
12:38Why is it the responsibility on the woman for what the man does, right?
12:42And even if he is doing something, he is the CM.
12:46He knows what he's doing.
12:47He's an adult.
12:47We are treating our adults like teenagers.
12:50We are moral policing everyone.
12:52We are bringing personal issues into mainstream politics.
12:56And we are driving the focus away.
12:58I mean, there are much, so many other issues that we need to be focusing on.
13:02And this is not just the case in Tamil Nadu, right?
13:04This is everywhere.
13:05Every party will fight up and speak up against misogyny the moment it is benefiting them, right?
13:11And you're not going to be talking about it on a generic platform.
13:15Exactly.
13:16So it is a political game.
13:18People are using it to push their narrative and to benefit them politically.
13:22So it keeps going on.
13:24So today they will say something.
13:25Tomorrow you say something about a party person in DMK.
13:29Of course they're going to stand up and fight for that person.
13:32That's how it is.
13:33And we've normalized it.
13:34Okay, so Sanjana, let me ask you this question.
13:37If a male actor had sat in that same seat beside a woman CM,
13:43would any paper have called it shameless?
13:47See, I think it's extremely sad.
13:50And we have to look down at this entire situation with how it's turned out to be.
13:56And if it would have been a man or a woman,
13:59I think at this point of time they're not able to find anything professionally
14:03against Thadapati Vijay sir himself.
14:06You know, this name himself.
14:07So when you can't find anything professionally and professionally,
14:10not just Tamil Nadu,
14:11the whole country is appreciating him for his instant responses,
14:16for his social media team being active day and night,
14:18resolving major issues like roads for kids,
14:23water tanks are leaking in the villages to what not, what not,
14:26the number of issues, gold coins for kids who are born in government hospitals.
14:30Everything is so fastly initiated.
14:33He's just become the CM like yesterday.
14:36And by now there's so many schemes which are successfully running,
14:39making him one of the most efficient CMs.
14:41We see the social media buzzing about him where it says that he should be the next PM.
14:46That's the kind of a fan following he's getting not as a film actor but as a politician.
14:50So when you cannot target at a politician politically,
14:54find personal agendas,
14:56try to drag his personal weaknesses and try to put him down.
14:59That's what is happening here.
15:01And it's disgusting to be seeing this,
15:03that they have steeped down to this level.
15:06And I can challenge you and I can tell you this,
15:08that a couple of weeks ago we've seen yet another politician being arrested.
15:13There's a defamation case thrown on him.
15:16And today, whoever have made these awkward statements,
15:19in the coming weeks we will again see new defamation cases against them
15:23and they should not be spared.
15:25And whosoever these politicians are targeting...
15:28So, Sanjana, are you of the opinion that perhaps the political opponents
15:31of the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu are not able to find reasons
15:36on which they can target him or question him.
15:39He has been in power for 100 days.
15:42Perhaps they do not have a reason,
15:44they do not have a narrative on their own
15:45and hence they are bringing Trisha every now and then.
15:49Convenient.
15:50To make her a battlefield.
15:51And this also will not last for too long
15:54because I have a feeling they are officially together now
15:57and somewhere I have a feeling that even in the industry
16:01there's a talk that maybe they'll be soon tying the knot as well
16:03and then all these gossip mongers will just have to keep quiet once...
16:07Kastuli wants to come in.
16:09Once a girlfriend becomes a wife,
16:11everybody just keeps quiet.
16:12So, that's also around the corner from what my instinct says
16:15and I wish the best for them.
16:16I really wish that happens.
16:18But it's really sad to see if you have the guts,
16:20then talk professionally about Talapati Vijay, sir.
16:23Yes, talk about his governance.
16:25Where has he gone from?
16:26You don't have the guts to talk about his governance.
16:28Talk about the challenges.
16:30Talk about issues where he has not delivered.
16:33We are so proud of him after he's become the CM
16:36and we are so proud of his achievements.
16:38Talk about his governance.
16:39Let me bring in Kasturi quickly
16:40and then I'll bring in Brinda Adige.
16:43Yes, quickly.
16:44Kasturi, you wanted to come.
16:45I'm sure Sanjana Galrani means well
16:48but I'm so sorry.
16:49You're clueless.
16:51You need to learn
16:52and you need to learn
16:53about the sentiments of Tamil Nadu.
16:55No, ma'am.
16:56Ma'am.
16:56Ma'am.
16:56Hold on a second.
16:58You don't need to give me a clue.
16:59You don't need to give me knowledge.
17:00You keep your knowledge to yourself.
17:02I have all the clue.
17:03I've done all my homework
17:03and I've come here.
17:05Okay.
17:05Let's respect each other.
17:08Kasturi, we have to respect each other
17:10and their views.
17:11Let me bring in Brinda now.
17:14Brinda, this isn't the first time.
17:16Perhaps won't be the last
17:17because women always are convenient collateral
17:22when it is about men in power
17:25trying to score political points.
17:28What does it speak about the political culture?
17:33The political culture has no qualms stooping
17:37to any level.
17:39There is no decorum.
17:41There is no professionalism.
17:43There is no respect for self.
17:45Forget the respect for the other person.
17:47And the other thing that we must establish over here
17:50is Trisha by herself is a professional.
17:55She's an accomplished actor.
17:57Absolutely.
17:58She's a citizen.
17:59And if she's exchanging a salute
18:02with the chief minister of a state,
18:05so be it.
18:06But imagine the kind of slurs
18:08that are used in a newspaper.
18:12What does this speak about the journalist
18:15who has written something like that,
18:17who has no respect for women,
18:20we are not talking about Trisha per se,
18:22but we are saying this man or woman
18:24whoever wrote that piece
18:26has no respect for a woman,
18:29though our constitution and our laws
18:31and our policies constantly talk about it.
18:34And in the political arena,
18:35we constantly see that
18:37if you want to attack your opponent,
18:39you attack the woman who's closest to him.
18:42And like you mentioned,
18:44a man sitting there would never be attacked.
18:46Whether he was an actor or he was a wrestler,
18:49it doesn't matter.
18:51The person would not have been attacked
18:52because he's a man.
18:54So this sexism, misogyny and patriarchy
18:56is so deeply entrenched in these people
18:59that they are not averse to casting aspersions
19:03and maligning and humiliating a woman.
19:07Now, is it what that culture,
19:09is the culture of that newspaper?
19:11You know, we have often said that
19:13there is the sense of outrage
19:15among all of us as women as well.
19:18But what about accountability and apology here?
19:22Kasturi, do you think there is a need for an apology?
19:25Absolutely.
19:26There has to be a public apology.
19:26I'm going to come to you, Brinda.
19:2730 seconds I have to all of you.
19:29Let me begin with Kasturi.
19:30Kasturi, is there a need for an apology here?
19:35I think there's a need for more than an apology.
19:37I think there's a need for some laws,
19:39which actually kind of on the lines of the PCA Act,
19:43where if you pass frivolous comments
19:46about women unnecessarily, needlessly,
19:50I think those kind of attacks,
19:53misogynist attacks have to be taken up
19:56and there should be a law that lets us do that.
19:59That said, I need to give some context
20:02to the other speakers in this panel.
20:04You guys don't know what was happening.
20:06The attack today in Murasuli was not about Trisha.
20:09The attack was on Vijay.
20:10Murasuli attacks Vijay.
20:11Udayaniti was attacking Vijay.
20:13Trisha is just collateral damage
20:15because she is very visible.
20:17And I absolutely take exception.
20:20I take exception to Sanjana Galrani
20:23normalizing Trisha as the girlfriend
20:26and it's going to be official.
20:27None of this has been clarified.
20:32It has not been,
20:34it is not their stance.
20:36You need to stop talking nonsense about people.
20:39You need to stop giving people
20:42all sorts of imaginary relationships.
20:43Vashanavi, here is Trisha in the line of fire.
20:46Why should she become collateral
20:47every now and then?
20:49Why should a woman be a collateral?
20:51Okay, so the important thing to remember here
20:54is that there's a lot of debate going on
20:57about the political prowess
20:58of the different people here.
21:00And that's not what we're here to talk about.
21:02Because it's not just this Murasuli article
21:04that whether it's a matter of perspective,
21:07is it targeting Trisha or not?
21:08But at the end of the day,
21:09the women are the ones who are suffering, right?
21:11And legitimizing her relationship with Vijay
21:13is not the solution here
21:15because a woman deserves dignity
21:17even when she is nobody's mother,
21:19nobody's wife, nobody's daughter.
21:21It's unacceptable to say
21:22that she will be totally normalized
21:24or just because she's associated with a man.
21:27And I think this kind of language
21:29that comes out from a publication
21:31that degrades a woman in any capacity,
21:34whether you're targeting the man
21:35or either you're targeting the woman directly,
21:37the end sufferer is the woman.
21:40Whether it's on a scale of Tamil Nadu,
21:42whether it's on a scale of India,
21:43saying somebody's 50 crore girlfriend
21:45or whether it's something as large
21:47as Julian Gillard being called,
21:48you know, ditch the witch.
21:49At the end result is the same,
21:51that you are legitimizing this vocabulary
21:54outside of politics.
21:55Because people are following this closely,
21:58it is influencing the younger generation,
21:59the masses,
22:00and it's turning a lot of our younger generation
22:03into extreme sexists and misogynists.
22:06And that's all I have to say on this.
22:08Yes, okay.
22:09I have enough time for both Sanjana and Brinda.
22:12Sanjana, 30 seconds.
22:14It's very important to respect women
22:16of every stater, every class.
22:18Trisha is still a very successful actor.
22:19Yes, it is about Trisha's dignity.
22:21She's a national award winner.
22:22But irrespective of that,
22:24if it is a normal middle class woman,
22:26she deserves equal amount of respect.
22:29Just because she's a woman,
22:31and it is their personal choice.
22:33Why are you judging them with their personal choice?
22:35Their friends,
22:36or their husband and wife,
22:37or girlfriend and boyfriend.
22:38Talk about Vijay Sir's achievements as a politician.
22:42If you have the guts,
22:43take out flaws there.
22:45You'll not get any flaws there.
22:46That doesn't mean you go ahead
22:47and you target his woman.
22:48Please, 110 times.
22:51This is not fine.
22:52It's completely unacceptable.
22:55How can you even use the word,
22:57how can you even use the word extramarital affair?
22:59What the hell?
23:00Okay, I'm going to move on.
23:01Let me move on.
23:02I'm going to move on.
23:03Brinda DK, only on the screen now, please.
23:05This is going in a direction.
23:06I do not want this debate to go in.
23:08We are talking about dignity of a woman here.
23:10Let's respect that.
23:12I will not take any of those words
23:13that have been used on my show.
23:16Absolutely unacceptable, ma'am.
23:18Go ahead, Brinda.
23:20Tamil Nadu has a very, very long,
23:23strong history of social movements
23:26and legacies that have always upheld equality,
23:31that has spoken about the strength of women,
23:34that has had a woman CM who brought in several reforms.
23:38You have had a woman chief minister in Jailalata.
23:42A woman chief minister
23:42and who brought in several reforms,
23:45reforms that have continued to go on,
23:47be practiced, executed even today.
23:50Given such a legacy,
23:52it is important that political leaders,
23:54irrespective of their disagreements
23:57with their opponents,
23:58must stick to only having those kind of arguments
24:02that are, you know, debate about policies,
24:05about ideas, about governance and things like that
24:08and leave women's dignity out of it.
24:11You have no right to respect a woman.
24:13Letter B.
24:13Letter B is the message
24:15that is going to all politicians,
24:17particularly the political opponents
24:20of the present chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
24:23Let her be.
24:24Let her live life of dignity.
24:27Her presence is not really a political optic.
24:31Let her be.
24:33Kasturi, Vaishnavi, Sanjana and Brinda,
24:36really appreciate your time.
24:37Thank you for joining us
24:38with that opinion and your perspective.
24:41That's all from me.
24:42Thanks so much for watching.
24:43Kasturi, Vaishnavi, Sanjana and Brinda,
24:43Thank you for joining us.
24:43Thank you for joining us.
24:43Thank you for joining us.
24:44Thank you for joining us.
24:44Thank you for joining us.
24:44You
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