Farmers affected by the Salem-Chennai Expressway project staged a black flag protest in the project-affected villages in Harur and Paapireddypatti on Saturday.
The farmers condemned Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami for claiming that the project had the support of majority of the farmers. He was earlier reported to have stated to the media that 92% of the farmers were in favour of the project and only 8% were opposed to the project, at a meeting in Ariyalur.
Objecting to the Chief Minister’s statements, the farmers demanded that Mr. Palaniswami should spell out the exact number of farmers supporting the project, with their names and details and place it before the Assembly.
It was also alleged that the Chief Minister was deliberately misleading the public about the project.
The police visited some of the farmers from Malagapaadi and Sumaithangi village, who had hoisted flags in their houses and fields and attempted to secure them.
However, no arrests were made as farmers from across the project-affected villages stopped the police and demanded that all of them be arrested.
