Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar MLA T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Sunday faced an embarrassing situation when a group of women waved ₹20 notes at him in a bid to ‘redeem’ cash for votes during his visit to the constituency.
In the run-up to the byelection to the R.K. Nagar constituency last year, it was widely alleged by various political parties that Mr. Dhinakaran’s supporters had distributed ₹20 notes to a section of voters, promising to exchange them for higher denomination currency after the bypoll results were declared, if they voted for Mr. Dhinakaran. However, after his victory in the bypoll, the alleged promise was not kept.
Against this backdrop, a group of women holding ₹20 notes sought to draw Mr. Dhinakaran’s attention during his visit to the constituency to open a summer water booth.
Though the women said they wanted to see Mr. Dhinakaran, they did not attempt to meet him and stood in an area along the road near Vaidhyanathan bridge, which was cordoned off by the police.
When asked about the incident, Mr. Dhinakaran said, “They are doing this after being instigated by E. Madhusudanan [his rival candidate in the bypoll, representing the AIADMK]. The police should take action against them. If they [the police] do not remove these 50 persons and if we retaliate, the law and order situation would be affected. We do not want to disturb law and order.”
To a query on his relative V. Dhivakaran, who had crossed swords with him, Mr. Dhinakaran said the former was “suffering from mental illness”.
“He was not well for over 20 years and had undergone a bypass surgery. He is speaking out of frustration. Not even 1% of what he speaks is true,” the AMMK leader said.
Stir against INO
Later in the day, Mr. Dhinakaran announced that he would be holding a public meeting at Pottipuram in Theni district on May 6 against the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project.
His party’s protest on May 6 would demand that the Centre called off the project, Mr. Dhinakaran added.
