DMK leader MK Stalin has been caught on camera appearing to slap a man who tried to click a selfie with him near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu today.
As the video was shared virally on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, Mr Stalin's managers said the politician hit the man accidentally while attempting to clear the crowd that had gathered around him.
On video, as Mr Stalin strides through the crowd, he seems discomfited by the man's proximity. As he struck the man's face, he also pushed him away.
But this was not the first time Mr Stalin was seen slapping someone on camera. In July, MK Stalin slapped a young DMK worker during a 'joy ride' in the Chennai Metro, which was captured on a CCTV inside the train. In his defense then, Mr Stalin had said he was just asking the man to get away from woman passengers and had "inadvertently touched him" due to a train jolt.
MK Stalin is the younger son and political heir of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, He is currently on a tour of Tamil Nadu with the stated mission of interacting with one crore voters.
Tamil Nadu votes for a new assembly next year and Mr Stalin has begun his bid to wrest the state back from arch rival J Jayalalithaa early.
With older brother MK Alagiri out of favour and his father now too old to lead the party's campaign at 92, it is now Mr Stalin's responsibility to steer the party.
But while his supporters hope that this will also mean that Mr Stalin will be projected by the DMK as its presumptive chief minister next year, his father is said to be reluctant to hand over that mantle just yet.