In a sharp rebuke within a politically influential family, Jose Charles Martin, son of lottery tycoon Santiago Martin, has publicly condemned his brother-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, Deputy Leader of Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), for mocking AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).

The controversy erupted after a video surfaced showing Aadhav Arjuna making disparaging remarks about the AIADMK leader during a party event supervised by actor-turned-politician Vijay.

In the video, Aadhav, speaking to fellow TVK functionary Anand, said, “Looks like BJP will leave AIADMK. At least Annamalai had 10 men and claimed 18% vote. But looks like no one wants to come for alliance believing Edapadi.”

Jose Martin responded swiftly on social media. “I deeply condemn and apologise for Adhav Arjuna’s another stupid remark on our Honourable AIADMK General secretary Thiru Edapadi K Palanisamy. As Adhav Arjuna lives on his wife’s money, he doesn’t know the value of people who have struggled to come up in life,” he tweeted, urging TVK chief Vijay to distance the party from such behavior.

Faced with mounting criticism from political quarters including NTK’s Seeman and AIADMK loyalists, Aadhav Arjuna issued a formal apology. He called the video a “leaked private conversation” and said he regrets the comments, asserting his commitment to ethical and respectful political discourse.

“A video of a private conversation was unfortunately leaked into the public domain. I have always upheld the principles of democracy and have never resorted to personal attacks in my public life,” he said.

“I entered politics with the intention of building a new, honest and people-centric political culture. I believe personal criticism has no place in healthy democratic engagement,” he noted.