CHENNAI: The row over Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker and Thuraiyur MLA Ravi Shankar moved from a viral video to the streets on Wednesday, with the DMK's Tiruchirappalli North unit protesting near the Thuraiyur bus stand and demanding that a case be registered against him, action taken and he be removed from the post.
It began on Diwali evening, November 8, at Mannachanallur. Karthik Kumar, a resident of Kannabiran Colony in Thuraiyur and a TVK member, says he had complained for weeks about a drinking water shortage and garbage in his locality to the municipality and to the MLA's office, without result. Seeing the Deputy Speaker's government vehicle parked near a temple, he approached him with the grievance. He alleges Ravi Shankar abused and assaulted him, kicking him and chasing him away. A video of the encounter went viral.
Kumar was treated at a government hospital in Tiruchirappalli. In a video from the ward, he said he had voted for Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay: "Is this the price for voting for Vijay?" he asked.
A second video then surfaced showing Kumar seated beside Ravi Shankar, saying no assault had taken place and that a scuffle broke out in a crowd. The Deputy Speaker said the incident was being misrepresented on social media and that the two were together and working for the party.
A third video followed, in which Kumar alleged he had been threatened into the retraction. He alleged a police inspector took him to the legislator's residence, where he was warned that he and his family would be harmed if he did not speak as instructed, and that the clip was recorded six or seven times before one version was released.
He also alleged his two-wheeler key, a gold chain and his spectacles were taken from him. Police have registered a case over the assault, reported to name unidentified assailant but the DMK says no case has been filed against the Deputy Speaker.
DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said the man had probably raised an issue that should have been handled by the minister or the local MLA: "They are kings, not democratically elected representatives. Perhaps that is why he was beaten." The AIADMK's Edappadi K Palaniswami condemned the alleged assault, and both parties questioned Vijay's silence.
The Thuraiyur protest was led by Tiruchirappalli North district secretary and former MLA Kaduvetti Thiagarajan, with former Thuraiyur MLA Stalin Kumar among those present. Thiagarajan warned of wider protests if the authorities did not act.
Minister Rajmohan said the police would function impartially and sought an inquiry into whom the video was first sent to and whether it was used to exert pressure.
On Wednesday, Vijay summoned every TVK MLA to Chennai for a consultative meeting at the party headquarters in Panaiyur with Minister N Anand, to discuss the row and the situation in Kallakurichi district. Party circles read the summons as a lesson in discipline.
(With inputs from media reports)