Tamil Nadu MLA M V Karuppiah floats in well with TVK flag to fulfil vow

MADURAI: Tamil Nadu legislative assembly pro-tem speaker M V Karuppiah was seen floating in an agricultural well for 30 minutes on Monday while holding the TVK flag, claiming it was to fulfil a religious vow he had made if C Joseph Vijay became chief minister.

The TVK MLA from Sholavandan in Madurai district said he had made a vow at the Janakai Mariamman temple to perform a "jala pradakshinam", or 'ritual float'. This is not the first time Karuppiah has performed the ritual float.

A decade ago, when he was AIADMK MLA from Sholavandan, he undertook a similar jala pradakshinam at the Madurai corporation swimming pool for around 48 minutes to mark former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's 68th birthday.

The ritual was performed in the presence of party cadres holding posters bearing her image in the water, while Karuppiah wore a T-shirt with her face printed on it. Karuppiah claimed he had performed the ritual every year on her birthday since 1997.