"It was a minor incident..The bull just brushed against the minister..He suffered a scratch," police said.
The Union Minister was on his way to a function at a nearby town when he stopped his convoy on being informed that villagers of Kulamanickam were waiting to meet him, they said.
The villagers presented a petition urging Radhakrishnan to take steps for lifting the ban on 'jallikattu' - conducted traditionally during Pongal festival - and were talking to him, when a bull standing nearby brushed against his arm.
The minister has already been taking steps for lifting the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on 'jallikattu', a popular feature of Pongal festivities especially in southern districts of Tamil Nadu and had recently expressed hope that it would be held this year.