After TN Guv tendered an apology, scribe says she’s not convinced with the explanation
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday tendered an apology to a female journalist for patting her cheek when she asked him a question at a press conference held in Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.
In a letter to Subramanian, the Governor said he patted her out of "affection" and "appreciation" of her performance as a journalist.
The incident had taken place in a presser held to clear the air over the issue of a lady professor mentioning the Governor in a leaked audio clip where she lured four girls to do sexual favours to top officials of the Madurai Kamaraj University.
"I gave a pat on your cheek considering you to be like my granddaughter. It was out of affection and to express my appreciation for your performance as a journalist," he said.
Though the journalist accepted his apology, she said she was not convinced about his intention. "I accept your apology, even though I am not convinced about your contention that you did it to appreciate a question I asked," she tweeted.
BJP leader triggers new row
Amid the raging patting row, BJP national secretary H Raja triggered a new controversy on Wednesday when he made a veiled attack on DMK MP Kanimozhi for supporting the journalist, calling her an "illegitimate" child of party chief M Karunanidhi.
"Would journalists question the leader who gave birth to a child from an illegitimate relationship, just like they questioned the Governor? Memories of Chidambaram, Udayakumar, Anna Nagar Ramesh, Perambalur Sadiq Basha would haunt them," Raja tweeted without taking Kanimozhi's name. But the hint was obvious.
Kanimozhi is the daughter of Karunanidhi's third wife Rajathi and Raja's reference to "memories" of some incidents relate to some infamous deaths that had occurred during various periods of DMK rule in the state.
Both Kanimozhi and his brother and party working president MK Stalin refused to comment on Raja's tweet, saying that reacting to it would be beneath their stature. Members of the DMK women wing burnt effigies of Raja and sought his immediate arrest.
Former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram rubbished the BJP leaders statement saying, "There is no such thing as an 'illegitimate child'. All children are perfectly legitimate. Will the BJP please explain where it stands?" he tweeted.
BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said that she was saddened by the personal attacks on women in public, irrespective of her party affiliation.
EARLIER STANCE
A pat on the cheek “moments after he dismissed a barrage of questions about allegations of sexual misconduct against himself. Unprofessional behaviour - and completely uncalled for to touch a stranger without her consent, especially a woman”, the journalist had tweeted on Tuesday.
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