Kamal Haasan gifts car to woman bus driver who quit job over ticketing Kanimozhi

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Monday gifted a car to a Coimbatore-based woman who quit her job as a bus driver over a controversy surrounding issuing a travel ticket to DMK MP Kanimozhi last week.

The car was provided to Sharmila, Coimbatore's first woman bus driver, on behalf of the "Kamal Panbattu Maiam" (Kamal Cultural Center) to enable her become a driver-entrepreneur, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief said in a statement.

"I was anguished over the recent debate surrounding Sharmila, who was a very good example to women of her age. Sharmila should not remain a mere driver. My belief is to create many Sharmilas," he added.

She would now use the car for rental service and become an entrepreneur, he added.

Last week, barely minutes after Kanimozhi took a ride from Gandhipuram to Peelamedu in Coimbatore in the bus driven by Sharmila, the latter had said she had to give up her "dream job" allegedly after her colleague disrespected the DMK Parliamentarian and also because her management accused her of seeking publicity by inviting prominent personalities to travel in the bus.

She claimed she had intimated her management about the proposed visit of the MP but she could not digest the "disrespect" meted out to the DMK leader.

The transport firm denied being informed about Kanimozhi's visit and insisted Sharmila had left on her own accord.