Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin explains viral hand gesture; AIADMK chief slams it as 'vain pride'

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday said a hand gesture he made after concluding seat-sharing talks with the Congress had gone viral on social media. Stalin explained that the gesture was made spontaneously after the discussions ended successfully. However, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami criticised the chief minister over the incident, claiming that under the DMK government everything, including law and order and women’s safety, had “come to an end.” Stalin recounted the moment while attending a wedding in the family of School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on March 5. "After finalising an agreement with an alliance party (Congress), in a way that everyone would appreciate, I left the venue (Anna Arivalayam)," he said.

"You would have seen the visuals of me getting into the car after finalising the agreement and the gesture I made by raising my hand, stating 'it's over'.

That was not something I had planned. As I was walking to the car, the media personnel standing there, were kept asking me whether the talks were over. I responded by making that gesture and said, it is finished", the chief minister recalled. Stalin said the spontaneous gesture later went viral on social media, where it was widely shared with claims that “everything is settled, all finished.” Responding to the viral clip, Palaniswami took a dig at the chief minister in a social media post.

"The chief minister, who is supposed to protect law and order, speaks with vain pride that the gesture he showed has become viral." he said."In the DMK rule, everything, including law and order, women's safety and social justice has come to an end," the Leader of the Opposition added. Late on March 4 at the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam, the DMK and Congress finalised their seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assembly elections, ending speculation over the future of their alliance amid reported power-sharing demands from some leaders in the national party. Following multiple rounds of negotiations, the DMK allotted 28 Assembly seats to the Congress and one Rajya Sabha seat for the March 16 biennial election. After the discussions concluded, Stalin briefly gestured to waiting media personnel while leaving the venue, a moment that was widely circulated on social media.