BJP National Secretary H Raja has condemned DMK President and Opposition leader MK Stalin for meeting the May 17 movement coordinator and activist Thirumurugan Gandhi when he was released from jail.

The DMK president had met Thirumurugan Gandhi at a private hospital in Chennai the following day.

Speaking at a public meeting in Mannargudi, Raja said, “It was not fair on the part of an opposition leader to have met a person who spoke against India,” according to a TOI report. 

The BJP leader also went on to accuse the DMK and other parties of wanting “all industries in Tamil Nadu to shut down and the people to live in poverty.” 

Thirumurugan Gandhi, the coordinator of the May 17 movement and activist, was released on Tuesday (Oct 3) after 53 days in prison. He was released from the Vellore Central Prison. Gandhi had several cases of sedition slapped against him, including one of sedition, for protesting against the Chennai-Salem Green corridor and Vedanta’s Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi.

Gandhi was first detained in Bengaluru after returning from his Europe trip, where he had gone to attend the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council. He was later set free by the magistrate, which had refused to remand him in judicial custody.

However, within hours of his release, the Chennai police arrested the activist for an earlier case as he was coming out from the Old Police Commissioner’s office on August 10.

In September 2017, Thirumurugan Gandhi was detained under the Goondas Act for attempting to stage a protest at the Marina Beach in memory of the Tamils who were killed in Sri Lanka. He has also been vocal against the proposed Salem-Chennai Green Corridor and the Thoothukudi firings.