Taking strong exception to film star Kamal Haasan’s reported criticism of ruling AIADMK’s flood relief activities, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on Saturday charged the actor with becoming a ‘puppet’ of those who tried to gain political mileage in such situations.
In a strongly-worded statement, Panneerselvam, considered Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s ‘Man Friday’, also explained to the actor the government’s spending in social sectors and disaster management and advised him to go through the budget “by allocating time in between his movie shootings”.
Panneerselvam’s retort comes in the wake of the actor’s reported criticism in a section of media, where he had purportedly said the “system has collapsed” and that he was making donations since the government had asked him and reportedly expressed his displeasure over it.