For Amit Shah’s Welcome, BJP Damages Footpaths in Chennai

Despite HC’s ban on hoardings featuring living persons, footpaths near airport were dug to feature party cut-outs.

Citizens of Chennai took to twitter calling out Amit Shah and the BJP over the whole matter.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@Stalin__SP)

On the day that BJP President Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Chennai, pavements on some stretches near the airport and along the East Coast Road (ECR) were dug up to make way for party cut outs and banners.

Amit Shah is in Chennai as part of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election Preparation Tour to Tamil Nadu and is scheduled to land in the city at 11:45 am on Monday, 9 July. He will then hold daylong meetings at the VGP Golden Beach Resorts on East Coast Road (ECR).

Photographs showed flags and banners that were dug into footpaths, damaging them while also blocking the way for pedestrians.

The Madras High Court has imposed a ban on hoardings and flex boards featuring living persons.

Responding to the tweets, a BJP party worker told TNM:

Generally party workers don’t erect the hoardings, we give it to the contractors. So, they would have done it. But we will look into it and do a course correction if found true.

BJP party worker

It was only a few weeks back that activists slammed DMK for damaging the footpath on the Poonamallee High Road and erected hoardings for its party meeting held in MGR colony near Koyambedu. J Anbazhagan, a DMK MLA, had responded to the activists’ tweet assuring that they would repair the damages.

Speaking to TNM about this violation by the BJP, Jayaram Venkatesan, the convenor of Arappor Iyakkam said:

I haven’t seen the images yet. But we will surely check on it and file complaints with the police and the corporation like we did for other political parties.

Illegal hoardings and banners have caused inconvenience to the public and even claimed lives. Between November 2017 and February 2018, at least three people were killed in separate incidents in Coimbatore, Ooty and Coonoor owing to hoardings.

Meanwhile, on the day the BJP chief is scheduled to arrive in the state, the hashtag ‘GobackAmitShah’ trended on Twitter in India on Monday.

Many on Twitter used the hashtag to say that Tamil Nadu was 'Periyar's' land and hence parties with a religious undertone will not be allowed inside Tamil Nadu.

The hashtag also comes nearly three months after the ‘Go Back Modi’ protest across Chennai, which coincided with the Prime Minister’s visit to Chennai to attend the Defence Expo. The same hashtag were tweeted by hundreds, making it trends worldwide on 12 April.

(This article has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)