The ‘Veera Vanakkam’ rally organised by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam here on Sunday in honour of those who had died in the anti-Hindi agitation turned for the worse as Ward 44 councillor Venthamarai Balu reportedly abused Deputy Mayor Leelavathi Unni.
AIADMK sources, who were present in the rally and witness to the incident, said that when Ms. Unni asked Mr. Balu to not push others to move forward in the rally, the latter abused her. The choice of words pushed Ms. Unni to tears. They said that Members of Legislative Assembly V.C. Arukutty and R. Doraisamy prevailed upon her to not respond. They also reportedly warned Mr. Balu to behave himself.
While Ms. Unni confirmed the incident, Mr. Balu did not. Ms. Unni said that she had raised the issue with the Mayor and the party’s district secretary P. Rajkumar, but did not prefer a complaint in writing. Mr. Balu said that it was not he who pushed her but those marching in the rally. Anything that happened was inadvertent, he explained adding that he did not abuse her.
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Mr. Rajkumar said that he did not hear the exchange of words between the two but heard it from fellow party men that something unpleasant had happened.