AIADMK workers attack media office

A group of AIADMK cadre attacked the office of Tamil bi-weekly Nakkheeran in Chennai on Saturday reacting to a report that said Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had eaten beef. The periodical that hit the market in the morning went missing from stands across the state.

In a party meeting that was out of bounds for all but few,Jaya asked her partymen not to speak about Sasikala,claimed the report. Instead,she spoke about how her rivals were pigeonholing her as a Brahmin. To negate it,continued the report,Jaya recalled an incident from the past when her late mentor,party founder and former CM,M G Ramachandran made her the propaganda secretary of AIADMK.

There was opposition from within the outfit. When C Ponnaiyan,the present organising secretary of the party,asked how a Brahmin woman can lead a Dravidian party,MGR apparently said she had cooked and served beef for him,thereby playing down her upper caste origin that is considered to be a liability in the heartland of backward caste politics.