Stalin accused Poongodi, who belongs to AIADMK, of having been sent by TN Minister SP Velumani to the meeting.
An AIADMK woman was ill-treated by DMK cadres for questioning DMK chief Stalin during a meeting of the Devarayapuram sabha grass in Thondamuthur on Saturday. The woman identified as Poongudi, president of the AIADMK women’s wing in the southern district of Coimbatore, attended the grama sabha meeting organized by DMK president MK Stalin in Devarayapuram on Saturday.
While the president of DMK allowed the public to ask questions, Poongudi, who was sitting with a DMK cap on her head, stood up to ask a question. The surrounding DMK team told her to sit down as five other women were already allowed to ask questions.
However, he asked the head of DMK, Stalin, why he was holding a meeting of grama sabha in Coimbatore. In response, he asked who he was, to which Poongudi replied, “I am an Indian citizen.” When he asked where he was from, to which Poongodi replied Sugunapuram near Kuniyamuthur. When Stalin asked if his residence belonged to the Devarayapuram village panchayat, Poongodi attacked the DMK leader asking him how he could hold a gram sabha in Coimbatore when he was unfamiliar with the area.
Stalin then tells the crowd that AIADMK minister SP Velulmani, who is also the Thondamuthur MLA, had sent her. “Get out,” he says to Poongudi. She is then escorted out of the meeting by cadres from the DMK wing, as Stalin instructs the party workers not to touch her and hand her over to the police. You can see some women taking her out of the place.
Shortly after the commotion, the woman and the man accompanying her were attacked by DMK cadres outside the scene and then rescued by Thondamuthur police. However, no formal complaint has been filed.
Another video shows Poongudi being escorted by the police outside, even as DMK cadres try to surround her as she launches slogans against DMK and Stalin. The same video shows a man named Rajan, who had accompanied Poongodi, allegedly being beaten by DMK pictures. He was later rescued by the police. Subsequently, Poongudi was admitted to a hospital at Coimbatore Hospital and Medical College.
However, speaking to TNM, Thodamuthur police personnel said they have not yet received a formal complaint from both parties and have not recorded any cases. With tension rising between the Dravidian majors, cadres from both parties held a protest in Thondamuthur.
Stalin has been conducting grass-sabha campaigns under the slogan “We reject AIADMK” since December. Before the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the head of DMK has planned to participate in the gathering of grama sabha in 16,500 village panchayats in the state.
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