Deputy Speaker Accused of Assault Over Complaint Regarding Civic Issues

M. Ravishankar, the Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and TVK MLA from Thuraiyur, has been embroiled in controversy. Karthik Kumar, a resident of Thuraiyur in Tiruchi district, has alleged that the Deputy Speaker assaulted him when he went to complain about the shortage of drinking water and other civic issues in his area.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, showing a person attacking another in the dark, although their faces are not clearly visible. In the video, one person repeatedly states that he had voted for 'Thalapathy' Vijay (Chief Minister and TVK leader), while the other person repeatedly hits him and asks for the name of his village.

On Monday, November 9, 2026, Karthik Kumar claimed that he was the victim of the assault and that M. Ravishankar had attacked him. After receiving treatment at the Manachanallur Government Hospital, he stated in a separate video that when he went to raise civic issues after no action was taken on complaints made to the municipality and the MLA's office, the Deputy Speaker insulted and assaulted him.

Following the incident, Kumar posted another video in which he was seen with Ravishankar, denying the assault and stating that there was only chaos in the crowd. He requested people not to believe rumours. However, Kumar later released a new video reiterating that Ravishankar had assaulted him. He further claimed that he had been 'threatened and pressured' into denying the assault in the previous video.

Karthik Kumar further stated that a police officer from Manachanallur took him to a police station in Tiruchi, where he was threatened with arrest for allegedly attacking three people. Kumar claimed, "I was then taken to Ravishankar's residence and forced to withdraw my previous statement. Because I and my family were threatened with death, I had to give that statement to save myself."

Admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi on Monday evening, Kumar told reporters that he was being misrepresented on social media and accused of seeking money. According to a report by The Hindu, the Deputy Speaker has not issued any statement regarding these allegations, and attempts to contact him via phone were unsuccessful. On the other hand, the police stated that they have not received any complaint regarding the incident that occurred on Sunday night.

M. Ravishankar is the Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and was serving as the TVK party MLA from the Thuraiyur (SC) constituency.