Senior party leader and fisheries minister D Jayakumar took strong exception to Divakaran's remarks that Jayalalithaa did not ensure any "protection" to Sasikala, who was her close aide.
He slammed the Sasikala family as an "embodiment of opportunism".
"Divakaran has no qualification to criticise Amma...(TTV) Dhinakaran (sidelined AIADMK leader) is also reported to have made some remarks against Amma. History will not forgive them," he told reporters here.
"Amma (Jayalalithaa) utilised her fully, but went (died) without giving her any protection," he said without elaborating.
"Just imagine, if someone from your family happened to be with a powerful leader and did all the things said by the leader, and was still pushed to an unsafe situation later, then that is the best example for all women. It is a lesson for all," he had told reporters while responding to queries on the I-T raids against him and others associated with Sasikala.