Tension prevailed on Poonamallee High Road in Maduravoyal as hundreds of BJP cadre sat in protest, blocking the arterial road, on Friday, condemning the Highways Department for taking down the party’s flag pole.
A 70-foot flag post was installed by local functionaries near the flyover connecting Maduravoyal-Tambaram Bypass Road on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on Thursday. The Highway Department pulled down the posts of BJP as well as the other parties since they were erected without permission and posed a danger to pedestrians and motorists.
Opposing the move, BJP cadre led by Karu Nagarajan, State general secretary and A.N.S. Prasad, State media coordinator, staged the protest. Mr. Prasad said, “Without issuing a notice, the authorities pulled down our flag post. Let authorities raze down all flag posts located on the sides of highways.”
BJP cadre erected the flag post at the place where it was before and staged a road roko. Following a heated exchange with police personnel, about 300 of them were arrested. They were released later.
