On 21st October (Saturday), the Tambram Police in Tamil Nadu arrested BJP leader Amar Prasad Reddy who is also the co-convenor of En Mann En Makkal yatra (My Land, My People). The leader was arrested for opposing the removal of a flagpole outside Annamalai’s residence.
As per the Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy, the BJP leaders were brutally assaulted outside Annamalai’s residence in Chennai.
“There are thousands of flagpoles in the city. Are all of them with permission? No, but in this case, we have been seeking permission for the last four months. Why it was not given? And what is the necessity for the police to go there in mass and take that (flag pole) out in the wee hours? What is the need? The time and energy of the police force has been wasted,” Thirupathy said.
In past 24 hours
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) October 21, 2023
-Late night attack at @annamalai_k's residence
-BJP leaders were brutally beaten
-Co-incharge of Annamalai's Padyatra Amar Reddy is arrested
This is how DMK govt treats the opposition.
But democracy is working fine because they're not Chinese/Pakistani agents. pic.twitter.com/yD2xyQvm5E
“Our BJP cadres have been brutally attacked and arrested. More than hundreds of BJP cadres including a lot of women have been detained. What makes you do that? This is vendetta politics. You want to threaten BJP workers, which is not possible,” he further added.
It is alleged that he tried to stop government officials from performing their duty and ‘damaged’ a JCB machine that was brought to remove an illegal flag pole in Chennai.
As per media reports, it is claimed that a flag pole was installed outside Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai’s Chennai residence without taking proper permission. But when officials and workers arrived at the spot to remove the flag pole, around 110 BJP workers staged a protest against it.
A police official said, “Despite repeated requests, they kept arguing with government officials. Subsequently, some of them were arrested and let off on bail.”
The Tambram Police said that no permission was taken from the Greater Chennai Corporation before the installation of a 45-ft flag pole outside the compound wall of Annamalai’s house on Friday evening.
According to the police, the flag pole was dangerously close to high-voltage power lines and was causing inconvenience to the public. They added that the corporation and the police later took the decision to remove the flagpole.
As per the police officials, apart from Reddy’s arrest, they have also registered a police case against six persons. Five of them have been remanded to judicial custody. Amar Prasad Reddy who also holds the post of state president of Tamil Nadu BJP’s sports and skill development wing, was among those arrested.
Following his arrest, BJP leader Kapil Mishra took to X to condemn the arrest and advocated for his release. He also pointed out that Reddy’s arrest underscores the importance of “safeguarding dissent in a democracy”.
The arrest of @amarprasadreddy, State President, Sports, and Skill Development Cell, @BJP4TamilNadu, by the TN Government is a stark reminder of the importance of safeguarding dissent in a democracy. We firmly advocate for his release.#WeStandwithAmarPrasadReddy
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) October 21, 2023
A few users also shared the moments when the Tambram Police took BJP leader and co-convenor of En Mann En Makkal yatra into their custody.
The DMK government taking @amarprasadreddy into custody from his residence . #WeStandwithAmarPrasadReddy am sure he will come out of this a lot stronger and as a bigger menace to dmk than before ! pic.twitter.com/w8Kx39jw6V
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) October 21, 2023
His arrest comes in the wake of the success of the En Mann En Makkal yatra which was earlier flagged by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in July, this year.
Regarding the Yatra, he said, “This Yatra is not only a political Yatra, the En Mann En Makkal Yatra is a Yatra to spread the Tamil language worldwide. It is to free Tamil Nadu from family dynastic politics, and corruption, and to improve the law & order situation in the state. It is a Yatra to end corruption & start development work.”
He added, “I want to tell the Congress party and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin that changing the name does nothing. As soon as you go in public, people remember the commonwealth scam, 2G scam, coal scam, choppers scam, submarine scam, ISRO scam and many more…”
