On Tuesday, a short video showed AIADMK co-coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami giving cash to a woman along with a pamphlet and moving on triggering claims that he had actually bribed her seeking vote for the AIADMK Salem Lok Sabha candidate KRS Saravanan. However, soon a longer version of the video clip told a different tale – he had actually paid her money for a bunch of bananas, which she had given him.

In fact, the Chief Minister himself clarified the situation later in the evening saying “How can I walk off without paying her for the bananas?”

On the last day of campaign, Mr. Palaniswami accompanied by Mr. Saravanan and party cadres walked along Bazaar Street canvassing votes, distributing pamphlets and interacting with shopkeepers.

At one of the fruit shops, the woman offered bananas to him. Though he initially refused, he later accepted it.

Before leaving, Mr. Palaniswami paid a certain amount to the woman walked away.

However, the video of the whole incident was shot and an edited version of it was released online. The five second video showed only Mr. Palaniswami paying the cash and not the woman given her the bananas causing confusion.