Coimbatore police on Monday, 24 January, arrested Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trade union district secretary M Bhaskaran after BJP members entered a town panchayat office in Pooluvapatti, and forcibly hung a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an office wall.
The police have also registered a case against 11 other party workers, citing trespassing and criminal intimidation in the matter.
In a video posted on Facebook, 39-year-old Bhaskaran claims that the portrait was hung after repeated requests to the panchayat office for the installation of the photograph went unheeded.
The BJP workers also reportedly questioned the police why Modi's photograph couldn't be hung inside the office, noting that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Chief Minister MK Stalin’s portraits were up on the wall.
The workers reportedly asked, "That sir’s (ayya’s) photo is hung, and we did not raise any objection. Why should we not hang the photo of our Prime Minister? Are you from Pakistan? Or from Afghanistan? What is the problem in hanging the Indian Prime Minister’s photo?"
Further, he went on to issue a threat, saying that if the photo was removed then the "Indian people would cause an uproar."
(With inputs from The News Minute.)
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