Ahead of Amit Shah’s Chennai visit, AIADMK slams ally BJP’s Vel Yatra

Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Chennai, the BJP’s ally in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, has said it will not allow processions that aim at dividing people of the state on the basis of caste and religion.

In the party’s mouthpiece ‘Namadhu Amma’, the AIADMK continued its opposition to the BJP’s ‘Vel Yatra’ or ‘Vetrivel Yatra’.

“The peaceful state of Tamil Nadu will not allow processions that aim at dividing people on the basis of caste and religion. All those concerned must understand this. The people of Tamil Nadu have repeatedly proven to the entire country that the Dravidian cradle of Tamil Nadu is the place where religion is considered as a guiding lamp for human beings and not to propagate hatred,” the newspaper said.

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“AIADMK, which is beyond religion and caste, will not allow vote-bank politics based on religion. People who are going for Vel Yatra must understand this,” it added.

Shah will visit Chennai on November 21 to take part in official and party events and it shall be a big morale booster for BJP workers, Tamil Nadu president of the saffron party, L Murugan said on Sunday (November 15).

Since November 6, the BJP leaders have been attempting to take out “Vel Yatra” in Tamil Nadu from multiple locations despite the state government banning it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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So far, the party workers and leaders, including Murugan had courted arrest at places which include Tiruttani, Chennai and Chengelpet.

Originally, the state BJP had planned to commence the yatra from Tiruttani in northern Tamil Nadu on November 6 and end it on December 6 at Tiruchendur in southern part of the state.

The party had said that the yatra was to expose the DMK, which allegedly lent support to a group that denigrated “Kanda Sashti Kavacham”, a Tamil spiritual hymn on Lord Muruga and it is hugely popular in the state for centuries.

(With inputs from PTI)