Campaigning for Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) candidates in Tirunelveli, Stalin said the remarks were baseless and crossed political limits. “As Leader of the Opposition, EPS has every right to criticise my governance. But he has no moral right to speak about my relationship with my father,” Stalin said. Rejecting the allegation, he asserted that Karunanidhi was a towering leader who could not be diminished by such claims. “Karunanidhi was a lion. No one could put him in jail. We lived in our heart,” Stalin said. The Chief Minister also accused EPS of lacking moral authority to comment on the late leader, recalling that the then AIADMK government had initially denied burial space for MK at Marina.