Supporters of the DMK in Tamil Nadu, which recently swept to power in the Assembly elections, were caught on camera, vandalising the premises of an Amma Unavagam (Amma canteen) in Chennai. According a series of tweets put out by the AIADMK, the incident took place in the city's JJ Nagar area on Tuesday.
The video shows one man tearing a name plate outside the canteen and kicking it, while another man can be seen walking out with a torn poster and dumping it outside the building. Another man can be seen walking around with a DMK scarf around his neck even as several people looked on. The miscreants had also overturned furniture and damaged groceries of the outlet.
— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) May 4, 2021
Photos of the incident also showed that police personnel had visited the spot and taken note of the incident.
In a series of tweets, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dinakaran condemned the ransacking of the canteen and said that it "hurts that the DMK behaves this way against a restaurant that benefits the poor and common people, just because it is named after Amma."
"Even before swearing in, if they are behaving like this, I tremble to think of the future," he said, adding that "This incident is an example that is a testament to the fact that the DMK will never change."
தி.மு.க.வினர் ஒருபோதும் திருந்தவே மாட்டார்கள் என்பதற்குச் சாட்சியாக இந்த சம்பவம் அமைந்திருக்கிறது. தமிழ்நாட்டு மக்களை கடவுள்தான் காப்பற்ற வேண்டும். (3/3)
— TTV Dhinakaran (@TTVDhinakaran) May 4, 2021
Following the incident, newly elected Saidapet DMK MLA and former Chennai Mayor Subramanian MA took to Twitter and said that DMK chief Stalin had ordered legal action against the miscreants who vandalised the outlet and also ordered that they be expelled from the party.
மதுரவாயல் பகுதியில் அரசு உணவகத்தின் பெயர் பலகையை எடுத்த இரண்டு கழக தோழர்கள் மீது சட்டரீதியான நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கவும், பெயர் பலகையை மீண்டும் அதே இடத்தில் வைக்கவும்,அவ்விருவரை கழகத்திலிருந்து நீக்கவும் வணக்கத்திற்குரிய கழகத்தலைவர் அவர்கள் உடனடியாக உத்தரவிட்டார்... pic.twitter.com/8FjmbSzTgS
— Subramanian.Ma (@Subramanian_ma) May 4, 2021
Launched in 2013 by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the flagship scheme was one of the first of its kind launched in India, to provide subsidised food for the poor. It employs women from self-help groups (SHGs). Last year when the pandemic first broke out, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) even announced that the food would be given out for free, as a result of the economic distress accompanying the lockdown.