BJP stages protest against T.N. government in Coimbatore

BJP leader in Tamil Nadu urges Muslims and Christians to reject vote-begging for safety, amid protest against government.

Muslims and Christians in Tamil Nadu, for their own safety, should “send home those begging for votes”, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Annamalai in Coimbatore city on Friday.

Staging a protest against the Tamil Nadu government for allegedly supporting “terrorist forces”, Mr. Annamalai said Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman called the Coimbatore bomb blast convict SA Basha his father, and VCK leader Thirumavalavan called him a martyr. People of Coimbatore should wake up as development of the district was stalled by such “begging for votes”. Coimbatore should be under the direct control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so that it went to the next level. This was time for change (in the State).

When the Prime Minister conducted a road show in Coimbatore and paid homage to those killed in the 1998 bomb blasts in Coimbatore, he paid homage also to Muslims who died in the blasts. “For us, our identity is Indians and Tamils,” he said. The entire BJP said that the blast near the Kottai Sangameshwarar temple in Coimbatore city on October 23, 2022, was a human bomb. The plan for the blast was conceived in February that year and there were seven targets, including the Police Commissioner’s office. The life of people was at risk and the Chief Minister was calling it a cylinder blast and this revealed the law and order situation in the State, he claimed.

Home Minister Amit Shah has assured to consider the appeal of the Tamil Nadu BJP for an NIA office in Coimbatore, he said.

Mr. Annamalai, Hindu Munnani State president Kadeswara Subramaniyam, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Amarnath Sivalingam, senior leaders of the BJP, and about 600 others were taken into custody by the police when they took out a rally as part of the protest.