At a press conference following the launch of his poll promises, Thondamuthur DMK candidate Karthikeya Sivasenapathy on Saturday expressed his regret for Tamil speaker ‘Dindigul’ I Leoni’s derogatory remarks against women at one of his election campaigns. At one of his election campaign drives, Leoni, who was campaigning on behalf of Karthikeya, had stirred a row when he claimed, “Women’s hips are like a barrel since they are drinking milk from foreign cows.” This remark had drawn massive flak from everyone in the state.

When asked if Leoni’s comments would affect his campaign, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy said irrespective of that, he regretted Leoni’s statement. “He surely should not have spoken like that. In fact, the moment he said it, I pulled his hand and said that he should not have spoken like that and that it was an unnecessary topic,” Karthikeya told reporters.

He further added, “With an intent of connecting the cows and me, he made that statement. He should not have. He could have just said native breed cow’s milk is good. That statement was unnecessary, he should not have said that. I express regret for that.”

DMK candidate Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, who will be contesting against AIADMK’s sitting MLA SP Velumani from Thondamuthur, is the Managing Trustee of an NGO working to conserve native cattle breeds. Tamil speaker Leoni, who is a known face on television debates, made the derogatory comment in a failed attempt to highlight Sivasenapathy’s work and the need to opt for native cattle breed milk. 

Dindigul Leoni had reportedly said, “There are several types of cows and the milkman will get milk from the foreign cow using machines. The women and children have become bloated after drinking that milk. Once women’s hips were in the shape of ‘eight’ and they were able to carry their children on the hip.” Leoni received sharp criticism from many on social media for his distasteful comment.