DMK leader Dindigul Leoni has come under fire after he made shocking sexist remarks against women at an election campaign rally in Coimbatore, saying women have become fat by drinking foreign cows’ milk.
In a video that has gone viral, Leoni can be heard body-shaming women saying women have become “like a barrel” after drinking milk from the foreign breed of cows. Continue to make lewd comments, Leoni then went on to say that earlier, women used to be “thin and their hips would have curves”.
“In a cowshed, people use a milking machine for foreign cows. These days, women drink milk from foreign cows because of which they have put on weight. Those days, a woman’s hip resembled the number 8. When she lifted her child, the little one stayed put on the hip. But now they’ve become like a barrel because of which women cannot carry their children on their hips,” Dindigul Leoni can be heard saying.
.@KanimozhiDMK Madame please get rid of womanizers like Dindigul Leoni, Vairamuthu etc in your party before you talk about women’s safety.. pic.twitter.com/cVkGCQ8eGi
— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 (@HLKodo) March 24, 2021
A party member tried to interrupt DMK leader Leoni from making such misogynistic statements but to no avail. Leoni, who was enjoying making such crass comments, did not bother the party leader’s interruption.
Dindigul Leoni made such crass and distasteful comments against women while campaigning for DMK candidate Karthikeya Sivasenapathy in Coimbatore.
Severe backlash against DMK leader, netizens ask Kanimozhi to sack Leoni
After the video went viral, Leone is facing a massive backlash across social media platforms. Netizens demanded that DMK leader Kanimozhi should sack abusive leaders like Dindigul Leoni before lecturing about women’s safety to others.
BJP leader Gayathri Raghuram asked if Leoni knew what happens to a woman’s body post-pregnancy or during hormonal changes and asked Kanimozi what does she “like to say to this kind of male chauvinist.”
What a shame.. what milk does he drink? Does he know what happens to women’s body post pregnancy or during hormonal changes? @KanimozhiDMK what do you like to say to this kind of male chauvinist? Is this the respect your party people have on women. https://t.co/7yMf5esqX0
— Gayathri Raguramm (@BJP_Gayathri_R) March 24, 2021
Not just BJP, even DMK sympathisers attacked the party leadership for fielding people like Leoni to seek votes in favour of the party.
DMK supporter Sumant Raman said that leaders like Kanimozhi should restrain speakers like Dindigul Leoni from speaking in the manner he spoke. His comments about the hips of women and how they have ballooned are degrading, he said.
@KanimozhiDMK kindly restrain speakers like Dindigul Leoni from speaking in the manner they are. His comments about the hips of women and how they have ballooned are degrading. You must have seen the video.#TNElection2021
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) March 24, 2021
The polls to the 234-seat Tamil Nadu assembly is scheduled to be held in a single phase on 6 April 2021. The ruling AIADMK has joined hands with the BJP to fight the Congress-DMK alliance in the assembly elections. The two sides are fighting a neck-to-neck battle in the state as both sides are eyeing to secure a majority. The results will be announced on May 2.