A day after BJP State President Tamilisai Soundararajan reportedly made remarks against the PMK leadership at a public meeting in Singaperumalkoil, the cadres of the two parties clashed outside the BJP office in Chennai.
According to PMK cadres, she also used an objectionable word while talking about Dr Ramadoss.
On Monday, the PMK cadre took out a procession against the national party, carrying the party’s flags and shouting slogans against the BJP. As they approached Kamalalayam, the BJP office in T Nagar, Chennai, over two dozen policemen prevented them from going any further. Soon enough, a group of BJP cadre reportedly started shouting slogans condemning the PMK protest.
The two parties then got into a physical altercation, breaking the window of a bus, only to be separated by the police who then detained the men. Speaking to TNM, one police officer said, “No one has been arrested. They got into a scuffle, so we detained them. Members of both parties have been detained.”
The clash comes a day after Tamilisai Soundararajan was nearly attacked at the public meeting on Sunday. According to a report in The Hindu, Tamilisai was reportedly speaking about the ‘failure’ of the Congress, DMK and PMK in bringing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to Tamil Nadu.
பாமக குறித்து தவறாக கருத்து தெரிவித்ததாக பாஜக மாநில தலைவர் தமிழிசையை கண்டித்து, பாமகவினர் ஏ.கே.மூர்த்தி தலைமையில் ஊர்வலமாக பாஜக அலுவலகம் நோக்கி வருகை#PMK #BJP @draramadoss @DrTamilisaiBJP #TamilisaiSoundararajan pic.twitter.com/kb2ZLocOYh
— FX16 NEWS (@fx16news) June 25, 2018
After months of anticipation, the Tamil Nadu government finally announced that an AIIMS facility in the state will be constructed at Thoppur in Madurai. Tamilisai was thanking the Central government for enabling the setting up of the AIIMS facility as well as for constituting the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
Even as she was making her remarks, a man, reportedly inebriated, climbed on the stage and moved towards the leader when party cadres and a policeman restrained him. The BJP party cadre began beating him up even as Tamilisai asked them to stop.
At a press conference later in the evening, she said, “They should have given protection. I don’t know if he was drunk or not. Someone is climbing the stairs and coming towards me. I was criticising a few parties. The police department’s protection was not enough. They should have corrected. They should give the right protection to political rallies.”