Jayalalithaa condemns Stalin for 'slapping' metro passenger

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Thursday condemned DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin for "slapping" a co-passenger in a metro train.

Jayalalithaa said in a statement that Stalin travelled in the train on Wednesday only to score political points and gain publicity.

"He slapped a passenger in the train and the same has been published by the media. This is condemnable and is unbecoming of a person who is a member of legislative assembly," she said.

She said Stalin should realise that in public places, everybody has equal rights and nobody is inferior to another.

On Wedesday, Stalin and some DMK leaders and members took a metro train.

A man was standing close to Stalin in the coach. As he did not move back despite availability of sufficient space, Stalin gave a slight flick with the back of his hand.

Jaylalithaa also took exception to the DMK taking credit for the launch of the metro rail service here.

She said the feasibility for metro train service was started in 2003 when the AIADMK was in power.

Jayalalithaa said the United Progressive Alliance government's economic policies increased the capital outlay of the metro train project to around Rs.20,000 crore from the earlier estimate of Rs.14,600 crore.