Chennai, February 19 – The Tamil Nadu branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the state police of delaying and denying permission for its planned 25,000 street-corner meetings, alleging partisan interference in favor of the ruling DMK government.
Party spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad urged the police to act impartially and grant approvals for the meetings in accordance with the law.
The party emphasized that the police should remain independent and called on senior officials to uphold democratic rights.
The BJP's statewide outreach campaign is led by state president Nainar Nagendran, with guidance from former State president K. Annamalai.
Senior leaders, including Union Minister L. Murugan, Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamilisai Soundararajan, Vanathi Srinivasan, V.P. Duraisamy, and K.P. Ramalingam, have inaugurated meetings in various districts since February 17.
According to the party, each meeting covers two to five polling booth areas and includes participation from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners.
The gatherings aim to highlight what the BJP describes as the DMK government's administrative failures, including alleged corruption, dynastic politics, rising drug abuse, unfulfilled electoral promises, and fiscal stress.
The BJP claimed that over the past three days, local functionaries seeking police permission have faced delays, refusals, and alleged intimidation. The party also alleged that in some constituencies, including Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's Kolathur segment, pressure was applied to disrupt the meetings.
The BJP has appealed to the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, Greater Chennai Police Commissioner, and district-level officers to intervene and ensure permissions are granted without bias. The party also urged Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik to establish district-level monitoring mechanisms to safeguard democratic processes.
Reaffirming its commitment to peaceful campaigning, the BJP stated that the meetings are modest, self-funded initiatives focused on voter awareness, and expressed confidence that the NDA will gain broader public support in the state.