In a bid to end a three-week long controversy following a speech by Ajith, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday said film bodies and others should maintain discipline and safeguard the unity of film industry.

In a statement, the octogenarian described Ajith as ‘Thumbai Poo’ (a flower known for its dashing whiteness, often compared with good people) and said some were trying to twist his words and to create a big problem.

“Though Ajith is a flawless person and his speech was not against me, some worked hard to utilise the situation and kick up ruckus. To put a full-stop to this, Ajith met me personally and explained about his intention.”

“Persons like Rajinikanth maintained silence to prevent the issue from becoming big. As a result, those wanted to create troubles are disappointed a lot. So, organisers of the felicitation function like Rama Narayanan, Guhanathan, Sarath Kumar, Radha Ravi and others should understand this and safeguard the unity of the industry,” he said.

The Chief Minister said unity and discipline of the film industry could give him more happiness than the one he attained at the felicitation function, organised for allotting land near Chennai for film fraternity to construct houses.