DMDK chief ‘Captain’ Vijayakanth who faced flak for elbowing his security guard in Salem last week, on Tuesday, perhaps, decided to make amends. On Tuesday, at an election meeting in Thirumangalam in Madurai, Vijayakanth invited the same security guard to sit on stage in front of him, much to the man’s bewilderment. After asking his guard to sit down, Vijayakanth, sporting a wide grin, took a piece of paper and started fanning the man, who was sweating profusely in the oppressive heat. Even as the guard scratched his head wondering what was going on, the chief minister aspirant went on to fan another person seated next to the guard.
All this drama lasted a few seconds, before Vijayakanth returned the piece of paper to the person sitting next to him. The speaker at the podium, meanwhile, continued praising the administrative skills of Captain, in response to critics doubting the latter’s leadership capabilities.
Last week, the chief ministerial candidate of the People’s Welfare Front-DMDK-TMC alliance was caught on camera making angry gestures at journalists and later, elbowing his security guard. Though the guard was only trying to escort Vijayakanth safely away from the crowd, TV footage clearly showed Vijayakanth strike the man with his elbow.
On Tuesday, at the DMDK event at Thirumangalam, Vijayakanth’s actions seemed like a deliberate attempt to assuage tempers. His seemingly spur-of-the-moment, positive PR move caught everyone on stage off guard.