Udhayanidhi Stalin Released After Questioning; Accuses TVK of Diversionary Tactics Before Budget Session

New Delhi: A day after Tamil Nadu leader of opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin got embroiled in a controversy over an alleged remark he made about actor Trisha Krishnan, he was released on station bail on Tuesday (August 4) night, after being questioned for over an hour at the Sengipatti Police Station in Thanjavur. Udhayanidhi walked out to a boisterous welcome from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cadres and later claimed that he had not intended any double entendre and did not mean to hurt anyone. He further accused the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of lodging the case to divert attention from issues that the opposition was raising.

What led to the arrest

The controversy stems from a speech by Udhayanidhi, who is the son of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, at a protest gathering over the Kaveri river water dispute in Thanjavur on Monday, where he criticised Chief Minister Joseph Vijay for what he described as indifference to the state not receiving its share of water.

After individuals from the crowd started chanting "Trisha, Trisha," he reportedly paused his speech and responded with a remark that was widely seen as an offensive double entendre, leading to widespread political backlash. According to the Deccan Chronicle, Udhayanidhi said, "Whether the water reaches anywhere else or not, it should reach there," before adding that he was referring to Kaveri.

At what was projected as a farmers protest, Udhayanidhi Stalin made an unnecessary, vulgar and double meaning comment about actress Trisha in front of thousands of men. pic.twitter.com/EvqkGrHKie

— Actor Vijay Team (@ActorVijayTeam) August 3, 2026

Following the incident, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) wrote to the National Commission for Women demanding action against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and lodged a police complaint, stating that Udhayanidhi's comments amounted to "offensive, double-meaning remarks and vulgar innuendos" that normalised the objectification of women in public spaces.

After TVK Thanjavur district functionary S. Bhairavi filed a complaint, the police booked Udhayanidhi under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including creating enmity among a section of people, the Information Technology Act, and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Women Harassment Prevention Act.

Arrest and court intervention

Police detained Udhayanidhi from his Neelankarai residence in Chennai on Tuesday morning. As per a report by NDTV, he appeared to be smiling while being escorted by the police officials and called the arrest "a joke" which he would fight legally. The DMK moved the Madras high court with an urgent petition seeking protection from coercive action.

After recording the police's submission that they did not intend to remand Udhayanidhi to judicial custody in connection with the case, the Madras high court subsequently ordered the police to release him after he was questioned, while directing him to cooperate with the investigation.

Udhayanidhi was released on Tuesday night. Though the police had planned to take him to Thanjavur and question him there, they reportedly halted at a station 25 kilometres away from the city in light of burgeoning political tensions stemming from his arrest, The Hindu reported. He was released around 8 pm and flew back to Chennai, where he received an enthusiastic welcome from party supporters.

Udhayanidhi's defence

Per a report by Hindustan Times, while speaking to reporters after his detention, Udhayanidhi maintained that he had not said anything wrong. "They have arrested me. I am not worried. I am ready to face the consequences. Let us wait and see. Now it is for the courts to decide whether freedom of speech is more than the dignity of women…I have not said anything wrong. I have not said anything wrong against anybody," he said.

Following his release on station bail, Udhayanidhi accused the TVK government of using "cut-and-paste" video editing to attribute words to him that he never said as a diversionary tactic. M.K. Stalin backed his son's claims that the government was using the arrest to divert attention from the Kaveri water dispute. He also said the TVK administration did not want Udhayanidhi in the state assembly ahead of the budget session, reported The Hindu.

DMK leader T.R. Baalu also extended support to Udhayanidhi and said he had not referred to any individual directly and that all the claims were "false."

Political backlash

The incident, however, drew sharp condemnation from both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. Tamil Nadu BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy called the comments "disgusting, obscene, vulgar and shameful" and called the arrest a "bold step" that would serve a lesson to others.

உதயநிதி ஸ்டாலின் கைது வரவேற்கத்தக்கது. பாராட்டத்தக்கது. தைரியமான இந்த கைது நடவடிக்கையானது, இனி தமிழகத்தில் வேறு யாரும் பெண்கள் குறித்து கேவலமாக, தரக்குறைவாக பேச முயற்சிப்பதை தடுக்கும்.

பேச்சுரிமையா அல்லது பெண்களின் கண்ணியமா என்பதை நீதிமன்றம் முடிவு செய்யட்டும்!

நாராயணன்…

— Narayanan Thirupathy (@narayanantbjp) August 4, 2026

BJP's national IT department in-charge, Amit Malviya also hit back at Udhayanidhi, invoking an earlier controversy surrounding Udhayanidhi's remarks that the BJP claimed were against the Sanatan dharma. "Udhayanidhi Stalin, the man who abused Sanatan Dharma, has been arrested for his vile and slanderous remark involving a woman. It was time he met this fate," he said.

BJP leader and actor Khushbu Sundar told NDTV that Udhayanidhi's conduct reflected what she called a longstanding pattern of misogyny within the DMK, and questioned how a leader could "abuse a woman on a public platform" for political gain.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief Manickam Tagore said the remarks were unacceptable and demanded that Udhayanidhi withdraw them along with an unconditional apology. "The language used by opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin in Thanjavur today is absolutely unacceptable. He must withdraw his statement and seek unconditional forgiveness," Tagore wrote on X.

TVK minister Aadhav Arjuna said in a post on X, "The great scholar Anna built a movement through his Tamil scholarship, but today, 'Porn' Udhayanidhi is destroying it with his pornographic language and double entendres…The pornographic speech he delivered today, which reveals his perverted mindset about women, is so ear-piercing that it makes listeners cringe. No mother, sister, daughter or parent in Tamil Nadu will ever accept such degrading speech."

He added that it was because of such a mindset that the women of Tamil Nadu expelled the DMK in the assembly polls this year. "The mothers and women of Tamil Nadu will completely uproot and expel 'Porn' Udhayanidhi, who is openly displaying his cruel intentions even on public platforms, from the entirety of Tamil Nadu's politics!" he said.

அண்ணா உருவாக்கிய அறிவாலயத்தை ஆபாசக் கூடாரமாக மாற்றிய ஆபாசநிதி!

பேரறிஞர் அண்ணா தனது தமிழ் புலமையால் கட்டியெழுப்பிய இயக்கத்தை, இன்று தனது ஆபாச மொழியாலும் இரட்டை அர்த்தப் பேச்சுக்களாலும் அழித்து வருகிறார் 'ஆபாச'நிதி.

தமிழ்நாட்டின் சட்டமன்ற எதிர்க்கட்சித் தலைவராய்கூட அல்ல,…

— Aadhav Arjuna (@AadhavArjuna) August 3, 2026

MLA Rhevanth Charan also criticised Udhayanidhi's comments, alleging that the DMK had resorted to "cheap provocation" following the "collapse" of its protest activities. "Passing such disgraceful comments against anyone is completely unacceptable. It exposes the mindset, political culture, and declining standards of the Arivalayam clan. Your announced protest collapsed even before it could begin. Now, desperate for attention, you have resorted to cheap provocation and engagement farming," he said, "Even by Arivalayam’s already abysmal standards, this is a new low." The ruling TVK announced a statewide protest against Udhayanidhi over the remarks.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said Udhayanidhi should "mind what he speaks" but also urged the government to drop the arrest proceedings against him.

"His continued habit of speaking out of turn without understanding the dignity of the position he holds, and his degrading remarks about women, are strongly condemnable," he said in a social media post on X, "Registering a case for his speech is one thing. But, with the budget session of the assembly set to begin tomorrow, the fact that this lame horse government is striving to arrest the Leader of the Opposition today raises suspicions among the people that this has a political background beyond the case."

Protests organised by both sides

DMK cadres staged protests across several districts, including Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Madurai and Ooty, condemning the arrest. TVK workers, on the other hand, held counter-demonstrations in cities including Ramanathapuram, Erode, Thoothukudi and Vellore condemning Udhayanidhi's remarks. In Pattukottai, TVK youth wing members also attempted to burn an effigy of Udhayanidhi before police intervened.

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