BJP office bears brunt of DMK ire over ‘fatwa’
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi reiterated that he was open to realignment of Ram Sethu project, even though a day earlier Union Shipping Minister TR Baalu said the alignment was "a settled issue".
By TNN |
CHENNAI: The tension between the BJP and the DMK over Ram Sethu canal project turned violent, as BJP headquarters in Chennai was ransacked on Sunday morning and a BJP leader’s house in Karaikudi was attacked late Saturday. In many parts of the state, DMK cadres protested against former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti’s ‘fatwa’ against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Meanwhile, Mr Karunanidhi reiterated that he was open to realignment of Ram Sethu project, even though a day earlier Union Shipping Minister TR Baalu said the alignment was "a settled issue". At about 11 on Sunday morning, hundreds of people allegedly belonging to the DMK attacked BJP headquarters in T Nagar in the heart of the city, damaging the building's window panes, glass doors and vehicles parked on the campus.
Earlier, houses of H Raja, president of BJP's Tamil Nadu unit, and his father-in-law were attacked around mid-night at Karaikudi. According to agency reports, there were demonstrations held against the BJP at several places in Tamil Nadu.
This came on a day when Ganesh idols were being taken on procession for immersion, after a week-long Ganesh Chaturthi. Interestingly, many households in the state seemed cut off from these developments because of an ongoing cable war. Cable television operators had gone on strike to protest against the aggressive pricing of Sun TV Network's new DTH service.
These developments came close on the heels of state DMK minister Arcot N Veersamy condemning an alleged fatwa against Mr Karunanidhi. Mr Veersamy called for black flag demonstrations in front of BJP offices in the state if the party did not withdraw Vedanti's remarks. However, state BJP leaders and the party as well had earlier distanced themselves from Mr Vedanti, saying it had nothing to do with him.
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Nevertheless, BJP leaders have uniformly spoken against Mr Karunanidhi's remarks, even as the DMK leader insists that the Adam's Bridge was not man-made and that Ram was a fictional character. However, Mr Karunanidhi told a TV channel on Sunday that he was still open to a realignment of the canal. "That's for engineers to decide," he said.Download
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