Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan “strongly denied” that it was his voice in a second audio clip leaked online on Wednesday, April 26. The audio clip purportedly contains PTR’s voice critcising the functioning of the DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin’s family. In response to the audio clips circulated online, PTR published a video saying that Chief Minister MK Stalin is not only the guiding light of Tamil Nadu, but the hope of the country. He also said that Sports Minister Udhaynidhi is the hope for the next generation and MK Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan as his most trusted advisor, aide and pillar of support.
In both audios, the person is heard slamming Udhayanidhi Stalin and Sabareesan. The first audio has the person alleging that the duo amassed a sum of Rs 30,000 crore. In the second audio, the person purported to be PTR can be heard saying that Udhayanidhi, Sabareesan and others in the DMK were taking away the spoils of the government.
PTR has called these audio clips fabricated and published with an intention to create a rift in the DMK. He said, “Such fabricated audios are being generated in a vain attempt to to cast aspersions on them. This is a desperate attempt by a ‘blackmail gang’ to achieve their political ambition by creating a rift within us. Such cowardly attempts will never succeed.”
Continuation of my statement of 22nd April, 2023 pic.twitter.com/Z3H6is3XzF
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 26, 2023
This statement comes a day after Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai released an audio clip where the speaker is heard appreciating the BJP as it separates the party and government, while that is not the case in the DMK.This is the second audio clip that has been attributed to the Finance Minister. The first clip was released by YouTuber Savukku Shankar.
In his response video, PTR draws attention to several ‘deep fake’ videos of notable celebrities including former US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Deepfakes are Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated videos and audio clips that can swap one person’s face or voice with someone else’s. Calling out Annamalai for releasing the clip with no solid proof, PTR said, “The state president of BJP has descended to posting an audio of somebody telling nobody about some others. This is the base level of his politics.”
The Finance Minister further alleged that certain forces are unable to digest what the DMK government has achieved since they came to power. He said, “They are indulging in using advanced technology and cheap tactics such as releasing these fabricated audios to disrupt our good work.” PTR also added that all the ministers in the DMK government are working together cohesively to achieve good results in the state. He asked, “Why would I say anything negative about any of them?”