Tamil Nadu chief minister C Vijay Joseph apologised in the assembly on Monday after a minister referred to former CM and DMK patriarch late M Karunanidhi by name without using the customary respectful honorific.State forest minister R V Ranjith Kumar’s reference to the late DMK leader as “Karunanidhi”, without the traditional “Kalaignar” (scholar), triggered protests from opposition DMK members.

Vijay intervened to defuse the tension, admitting that the reference was inappropriate and apologising on the minister’s behalf.

“I apologise on his behalf,” Vijay said.The row erupted during a debate on demands for grants for the health and revenue departments.

Ranjith Kumar was criticising alleged cash-for-votes practices and referred to the controversial “Thirumangalam formula”.He claimed that up to Rs 1,500 per vote had been distributed in his Kancheepuram constituency during previous elections. He contrasted this with the current government, saying it came to power without distributing money for votes.While referring to past election tactics, Ranjith Kumar mentioned Karunanidhi without the customary “Kalaignar” or “former chief minister” prefix. DMK members, led by former minister K K S S R Ramachandran, immediately protested, citing the assembly’s long-standing convention of using respectful titles for revered leaders.Vijay then halted the forest minister’s speech and intervened to prevent the protest from escalating, acknowledging that referring to the late leader without the customary honorific was inappropriate.