Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) burnt an effigy of former Union Minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar here on Sunday in protest against his remarks against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Burning the effigy near the Tiruchi Railway Junction, they protested Mr.Aiyar’s ‘tea vendor’ remark directed at Mr.Modi.
The police were caught unawares as they had just arrested some members of the party BJP cadre when they started selling tea as of a protest, near the Central Bus Stand.
Holding placards, the BJP cadre, led by the party’s urban district president P. Parthiban, raised slogans demanding an apology from Mr.Aiyar.
However, within a few minutes, the other group of BJP cadre burnt the effigy of Mr.Aiyar near the Railway Station, hardly a km away. The BJP cadre also staged protests at Thiruppanandal and Thirubuvanam near Kumbakonam. However, the police foiled attempts to burn effigies of Mr. Aiyar at both places.
In Thirubuvanam, a demonstration was led by the party’s Thanjavur district vice president Vasudevan, while the protest in Thiruppanandal was headed by the party union secretary Senthil Kumar. Twenty members of the party were arrested.
