Geetha Jeevan slams AIAMK ex-Min for comparing welfare schemes to wives, says EPS set wrong precedent with ‘lipstick bus’ remark
In a statement, Geetha Jeevan said such statements were deeply offensive and exposed the AIADMK’s contempt for women
State social welfare minister Geetha Jeevan
CHENNAI: Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Minister Geetha Jeevan on Tuesday (October 14) condemned AIADMK organising secretary CVe Shanmugam for his derogatory remarks equating women with free welfare schemes.
Addressing an AIADMK booth committee training session, Shanmugam had reportedly said, “Ahead of elections, several announcements will be made, mixer grinders, goats, cows, and even wives will be given free of cost.”
In a statement, Geetha Jeevan said such statements were deeply offensive and exposed the AIADMK’s contempt for women. She said the DMK government, under Chief Minister MK Stalin’s “Dravidian model of governance,” had been implementing several welfare schemes aimed at women’s economic empowerment and social progress.
“The remark comparing women to freebies reveals Shanmugam’s perverse mindset,” she said, adding that former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would never have tolerated such a remark.
She also recalled that opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami had earlier mocked government buses for women as “lipstick buses,” showing the AIADMK’s persistent misogyny. “His follower Shanmugam has now followed suit with similar indecent remarks,” she said.
Citing previous derogatory comments made by BJP leader Khushbu, PMK’s Sowmya Anbumani, and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Geetha Jeevan said that leaders of the AIADMK-BJP alliance had repeatedly insulted women beneficiaries of welfare schemes. “They are not opposing the DMK, they are opposing women themselves,” she said.
Geetha Jeevan said the Kalaignar Mahalir Urimai Thittam and other welfare initiatives had greatly improved women’s economic status, education levels, and participation in the workforce. “Because of these progressive measures, Tamil Nadu now leads the country in the number of women employed in industries,” she said, adding that several States, including Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and Puducherry, had followed Tamil Nadu’s example by introducing similar welfare schemes for women.
Condemning the AIADMK and its allies for their repeated insults, she said, “The people of Tamil Nadu, especially women, will give them a fitting reply in the 2026 Assembly election.”
