High drama prevailed in front of the house of orator and Congress loyalist ‘Nellai’ Kannan in Tirunelveli Town on Tuesday as BJP cadre staged a dharna, demanding his arrest for his alleged “hate speech” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
When he addressed a meeting organised in Muslim-dominated Melapalayam by the Social Democratic Party of India against the Citizenship Amendment Act on Sunday night, Mr. Kannan allegedly incited Muslims to “finish off” the Home Minister, whom he dubbed “the brain behind the Prime Minister”.
After the district unit of the BJP filed a complaint with Tirunelveli Commissioner of Police Deepak M. Damor on Monday seeking registration of a case against Mr. Kannan, Melapalayam police registered a case against him under Sections 504, 505 and 505 (2) of the IPC in the night.
Seeking the arrest of Mr. Kannan, a small group of BJP cadre staged a dharna in front of Mr. Kannan’s house on Tuesday morning and the police had to be deployed there. Even as the BJP cadre were raising slogans against the orator, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Tirunelveli) Satish Kumar held talks with the protesters and assured them that due action would be taken based on the case registered against Mr. Kannan.
Even as the protest was going on, Mr. Kannan, who had some health issues, was taken in an ambulance to a private multi-specialty hospital on North Bypass Road as he complained of chest pain. As the hospital administration hesitated to admit him, he was taken to another hospital on South Bypass Road. Even after he was taken inside the hospital, BJP cadre, who followed the ambulance, staged a demonstration in front of the hospital, demanding his arrest.
Around 3 p.m., he was rushed to a Madurai hospital amidst sloganeering by BJP cadre.
