Irked by low turnout, minister Pon Radhakrishnan refuses to take dais

Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan, refused to get on the stage at a government event in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district after he expressed discontent over low crowd turnout at the venue.

Radhakrishnan was there to inaugurate a family welfare centre of the Tamil Nadu government on Friday. Twenty people were present at the event. Irked by the thin attendance, the union minister lost his cool and pulled up the state health department officials.

Video footage being circulated over social media shows Radhakrishnan reprimanding officials over the low crowd turnout.

"Where are the villagers? Why should I attend this function for government officials?" a visibly upset Radhakrishnan told the officials.

The minister said that he will not take the stage unless the organisers brought more people to attend the event.

The union minister finally took the stage and delivered his speech after the organisers brought in around 50 more people to the venue.