AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami ignited a firestorm of controversy on Monday night after publicly berating an ambulance driver during a campaign event in Anaicut, Vellore district. The incident occurred when a 108 ambulance, navigating through a crowded gathering, prompted an angry response from Palaniswami, who accused the driver of deliberately disrupting his speech and suggested a political conspiracy by the ruling DMK.
While addressing supporters, Palaniswami halted his speech to confront the driver, shouting, “Stop the vehicle! Is there any patient inside? They [DMK] are trying to ruin the gathering. Isn’t the government ashamed?” He instructed party workers to record the ambulance’s number and the driver’s details for a police complaint, alleging that ambulances had disrupted his campaign at 30 other locations. In a chilling remark, he warned that if an empty ambulance crossed his event again, “the driver will be sent back as a patient.”
The driver, Surendar, employed by GVK EMRI, clarified that he was en route from Pallikonda to Anaicut Government Hospital to transport a 60-year-old woman suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting to Vellore Government Hospital in Adukkamparai. “The crowd thumped on the ambulance, grabbed my collar, and took my ID card,” Surendar recounted. “They opened the back door, questioning why I was there without a patient. We work 24/7 to save lives, but nobody cares for ours.”
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The incident drew sharp condemnation from Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, who, speaking at an Ungaludan Stalin campaign event in Saidapet, defended the state’s 1,330 ambulances, which “save lives every minute.” He criticized Palaniswami for holding rallies on main roads and disrespecting emergency workers. The DMK’s IT wing labeled the act “deplorable,” warning that Palaniswami’s inflammatory rhetoric risked inciting violence among his supporters.
On Tuesday, during his “Makkalai Kaapom, Tamilagaithai Meetpom” campaign, Palaniswami doubled down, taking swipes at the DMK government. He questioned locked rooms during Enforcement Directorate raids, alluded to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s hospital stay as a “drama,” and promised civic improvements while dismissing CPI leader R. Mutharasan’s criticisms with defiance.
The controversy has intensified political tensions in Tamil Nadu, with opposition leaders and activists demanding an apology from Palaniswami for threatening an essential worker and undermining the state’s emergency services.
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