(MENAFN- IANS) Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) Tamil Nadu's Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Minister P. Geetha Jeevan, on Tuesday, criticised the AIADMK Organising Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP C. Ve. Shanmugam for his controversial remark comparing women to free welfare schemes, calling it "deeply insulting and reflective of a regressive mindset".

Shanmugam, while addressing an AIADMK booth committee training session, had reportedly said, "Ahead of elections, several announcements will be made -- mixies, grinders, goats, cows, and even wives will be given free of cost."

Condemning Shanmugam's remark, Geetha Jeevan said that such comments exposed the AIADMK's contempt for women.

"This statement reveals Shanmugam's perverse mindset. Even as a human being, he is unfit to make such comments. Late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would never have tolerated such vulgarity," she said in a statement.

The Minister added that the DMK government under Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's Dravidian model of governance, had been implementing numerous schemes aimed at women's empowerment and social advancement.

"The AIADMK and its allies are not opposing the DMK -- they are opposing women themselves," she said.

Geetha Jeevan noted that AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had earlier mocked the women's free bus travel scheme by calling them "lipstick buses", and said that Shanmugam's remark was in the same misogynistic vein.

"This is the same old AIADMK mindset that trivialises women's dignity," she said.

She also added that similar derogatory remarks had been made earlier by BJP leader Khushbu sundar, PMK's Sowmiya Anbumani, and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman -- all part of the AIADMK-BJP alliance -- targeting women beneficiaries of welfare schemes.

Listing the DMK government's achievements, the Minister highlighted the Kalaignar Mahalir Urimai Thittam, which she said had significantly improved women's economic and social status.

"Because of these progressive measures, Tamil Nadu now leads the country in women's participation in industries. States like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and Puducherry have followed our example," she noted.

Concluding her statement, Geetha Jeevan said, "Women across Tamil Nadu will not forget these repeated insults. They will give a fitting reply to the AIADMK and its allies in the 2026 state Assembly elections."

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