Radha Ravi’s name in EC star campaigner list

In fact, In the list of 40 campaigners, Ravi had secured the 15th spot, placed above even prominent speakers like Suba Veerapandian of Dravidar Iyakka Tamilar Peravai and nearly a dozen district secretaries.

Radha Ravi was suspended from the party last week for his double entendre targeting Kollywood “lady superstar” Nayanthara at a function. As soon as the star campaigners list reached the public forum, the DMK top brass got into damage control mode and quickly pulled the loose cannon’s name out of it.

The party has replaced him with district secretary R Gandhi of Vellore. When contacted, DMK organising secretary RS Bharati confirmed the name replacement but refused to disclose how Radha Ravi’s name had featured in the list. Inquiries made with party insiders revealed that the party has sent the list of speakers to the EC much before the disciplinary action initiated for hitting below the belt, which he had made a habit of.

Curiously, the netizens did not take it faux pas lightly. Social networking sites were abuzz with criticism for the DMK including him high on the list. Worse, some Twitterati recalled Stalin’s recent Freudian slips. “After all, an actor,” was the remark Stalin had made a few days ago during the campaign and that too after reprimanding Radha Ravi. “Like leader, like cadre,” read one of the Tweets posted on the timeline of the DMK page.

Surprisingly, Stalin repeated his mistake again on Monday when he referred to former chief minister Jayalalithaa as “Weight CM,” which received brief applause from the crowd at Sholinganallur. A cautious Stalin this time instantly corrected by adding that he had only meant the power she wielded. However, most in the audience, were aware as to what the alleged innocuous statemen meant.