Senthil Kumar, the DMK MP from Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri, said stirred controversy by saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party can win only in "gau mutra" states. His comments came in reference to the BJP's win in the Hindi-belt states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in their recently concluded state assembly elections.
“The people of this country should think that the power of this BJP is only winning elections mainly in the heartland states of Hindi, what we generally call as the ‘gaumutra states,’” Senthil Kumar said during the second day of the Lok Sabha's Winter Session.
BJP Tamil Nadu calls remark 'insensitive'
The DMK MP's comments were met with strong criticism from the BJP. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai called the "gau mutra states" remark "insensitive".
"Chennai is sinking due to the misgovernance of DMK & and so is their level of discourse on the floor of the Parliament. After calling our North Indian friends Pani Puri sellers, toilet constructors, etc., I.N.D.I. Alliance DMK MP, makes Gaumutra Jibes. @BJP4TamilNadu highly condemns this insensitive remark," Annamalai said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Not the first time Senthil Kumar referred Hindi-belt 'gaumutra states'
This is not the first time Senthil Kumar has referred the Hindi-belt states "gaumutra states". In 2022, while speaking on the National Education Policy, the Dharmapuri MP said that NEP should be implemented in "gau mutra states".
"If it wants to implement then, in order to for India to become a developed state, let them implement Tamil Nadu's model throughout the state. But why is it being thrust upon us. We totally reject it. If they want they can go and implement it in the gau mutra states," Senthil Kumar said at the time.
