Barely an hour after the swearing in of the new government, the residence of former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam came under attack from the supporters of Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam. Water bottles and stones came flying from Mr. Shanmugam’s compound sending those in Mr. Panneerselvam’s residence scurrying for cover.
Two persons — Balaji, 51, from Kovilpatti, a supporter of Mr. Panneerselvam, and Sangaranarayanan, an armed reserve constable — were injured in the attack. Mr. Balaji suffered a bleeding injury on his forehead.
Dramatic scenes unfolded in the compound on Thursday evening where Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Shanmugam are neighbours. Their houses are diagonally opposite to each other.
The situation remained tense in the compound since afternoon when someone in Mr. Shanmugam’s househould allegedly hurled abuses at supporters of Mr. Panneerselvam who were standing outside his residence. This led to a protest by Mr. Panneerselvam’s supporters outside Mr. Shanmugam’s house, with women leading it. The women too hurled abuses at Mr. Shanmugam’s household.
While things cooled down for some time, an hour after the swearing-in was complete, the situation turned worse as supporters of Mr. Shanmugam streamed into the law minister’s residence. What began as an argument turned ugly between the two camps, leading to Mr. Shanmugam’s supporters throwing water bottles and stones at Mr. Panneerselvam’s residence. Police quickly barricaded both the houses and pushed back supporters from both camps preventing a fist-cuff.
A few supporters of Mr. Panneerselvam climbed the gate of his house and threatened Mr. Shanmugam’s supporters, but made a hasty retreat after stones came flying from the other camp. A couple of women in Mr. Panneerselvam’s residence were waving wooden logs and were about to throw them when police intervened and stopped them. Even police personnel inside Mr. Panneerselvam’s residence had to take cover from the stones that came flying. Cars that were parked near the gates were quickly moved inside.
‘Fight only against Sasikala’
Mr. Balaji addressed the press even as he was bleeding. Former Minister K.P. Munusamy, who is in Mr. Panneerselvam’s camp, told the media that the situation had come to such a pass that the AIADMK government was attacking their own cadre, especially in the former Chief Minister’s house.
“Within just one hour of the government taking over, an AIADMK cadre has been attacked. How will they maintain law and order? Our fight is not against you (MLAs), but against the Sasikala family that is controlling you,” Mr. Munusamy said.
Former Minister Natham R. Viswanathan said, “It is ironical that the law minister who should be protecting the people, is attacking them and breaking the law. There’s an attack on the residence of a former Chief Minister just an hour after the government has taken over. What is happening? This government will not last,” he said.
