Mud thrown at Tamil Nadu minister during relief distribution
Unidentified persons threw mud at Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K Ponmudy and his entourage during his visit to a village in the district on Tuesday to distribute flood relief, an incident that the senior DMK leader dubbed as "politically motivated".
He said that the people in the area had no issues with him.
"They didn't even spare the district collector. As we were returning after holding talks with the people, they hurled something that appeared to be mud from behind us," Ponmudy later told reporters.
State Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Minister P K Sekar Babu, accused a political party member and her relative of throwing mud to obstruct Ponmudy from distributing relief to the flood-affected people.
During his visit to Iruvelpattu village, Ponmudy was confronted by several residents who claimed that officials had not visited their isolated village for two days after Cyclone Fengal hit the district. Suddenly, someone from the crowd threw mud at the minister, soiling his white shirt and the clothes of several officials and police officers, who were accompanying Ponmudy.
Reacting to the incident, Sekar Babu told reporters in Chennai that such an act would not have been carried out by ordinary citizens.
"The mud was thrown by a member of a political party and her relative," Babu said, without naming the party.
Ponmudy remained unfazed by the incident and continued his people-focused efforts by distributing relief and consoling the flood-affected families, Babu claimed.
The Forest Minister clarified he had visited the village to engage in talks with a group of people protesting on the national highway, demanding flood relief.
"The agitation was politically motivated, and we aimed to prevent it. We engaged in talks with the people, ensuring they dispersed and traffic on the NH was restored," he said.
He stated that the mud was thrown from behind as they were returning from the village, hitting him, his son Gautham Sigamani, and Collector C Palani.
When a reporter asked if the act was a direct affront to him, Ponmudy retorted, "Would our men allow it? Our shirts got dirty. I went to other places and oversaw the relief distribution work."
When asked if a formal complaint had been filed regarding the incident, the minister laughed and said, "You media persons can complain. As I mentioned earlier, they did it with a political motive. We don't wish to engage in politics. We aim to clear floodwaters and restore normalcy. We don't want to escalate the situation."
Reacting to the incident, BJP state chief K Annamalai commented that this "reflects the current state of affairs in Tamil Nadu".
"The CM and the Deputy Chief Minister were busy taking photos in the streets of Chennai while the city received very little rain and did not bother to keep track of the happenings beyond Chennai," Annamalai said in a post on X.
Today, the public's frustration reached a boiling point when Ponmudy visited a flood-affected area and was met with a "barrage of mud".
"This is a gentle reminder for DMK about what is in the offing," Annamalai said in the post.
