RS Bharathi’s alleged remarks whip up political storm

CHENNAI: DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi on Saturday whipped up a political storm after he was reportedly quoted saying that he “did not get positions in the party because of being loyal to one flag and one party” and “being loyal to the party does not ensure easy rise in the party.”

Bharathi was quoted as saying so at the unveiling of the portrait of former DMK MP A A Jinnah. Opposition AIADMK and BJP social media wings went gung ho over the reported statement and loaded Twitter with ‘cards’ of what appeared to be a bear-all statement of the DMK organising secretary. The Opposition attributed the reported statement to the rise of Udhyanidhi Stalin. Strangely, the IT wing of the DMK did not get into damage control mode till late Saturday evening. When contacted over phone, RS Bharathi told DT Next over that he was misquoted. “I never said that being loyal to one flag and party will not get posts. I advised the cadre at the unveiling of Jinnah’s portrait that the cadre should be patient,” he said.

“I cited how Jinnah became an MP only at 70 and I was offered an MP seat at only 69. I told the cadre that the cadre should be patient and remain loyal to the party. One day the positions will come to them. My statement was distorted and misquoted by a section of the media,” Bharathi added.