Didn't notice auto-driver getting thrashed: Soundararajan

A day after a video of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V. Kalidass manhandling an auto-driver for raising a question on the rising fuel prices in the country went viral, Tamil Nadu state BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan said she was unaware of the incident.

"The media is projecting it as if I was smiling when he was beaten up. I had heard his question; coincidently the media's question was the same, so I was answering. I didn't notice what happened behind me," Soundararajan clarified at a press conference on Tuesday.

The BJP state president, who visited the auto driver at his home today, accused the auto-driver of being under the influence of alcohol when the incident took place. Hence, he was hence taken away from the venue by the BJP leader, she said.

"It was my co-worker who pushed him aside as he was under the influence of alcohol. But it was projected as if I was smiling. If it (manhandling) happened, it is wrong, but he was removed because people around me were concerned about others' safety," she clarified.

On Monday, an auto-driver was seen being manhandled by Kalidass after he asked Tamilsai about the sky-rocketing fuel prices. In a video filmed of the incident, the BJP leader can be seen pushing the driver aside and hurling abuses at him after he posed a question on the fuel price hike before Tamilsai, who was addressing the reporters in Chennai's Saidapet area amid the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.