Traffic came to a standstill near busy Kokkupark on East Coast Road on Wednesday following a protest by Congress legislator M. Vaithianathan and his supporters to condemn the decision of Civil Supplies Department to cancel a face-to-face programme he had planned to organise with the department officials to address the grievances of ration card holders in his Lawspet constituency.
Traffic came to a standstill for more than 20 minutes on East Coast Road as Congress MLA representing Lawspet Vaithianathan and his supporters staged a protest on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: S.S.KUMAR
Traffic went haywire on ECR and adjacent roads as the legislator and his supporters blocked the road demanding answers from the Civil Supplies Department for having cancelled the programme in the last minute.
There were heated exchanges between the supporters of the legislator and the police for about 20 minutes. Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) V. Vaithialingam also joined the protesters.
They dispersed after getting an assurance from the officials that they would organise another meeting with the public very soon .
Mr. Vaithianathan told reporters that the Department had earlier agreed to organise the meeting at his office on Wednesday morning. After the Minister for Civil Supplies agreed to attend the programme, even invitations were printed, he said.
“Around 500 people have gathered at my office on Wednesday morning to attend the programme when suddenly I get a call from the department that the programme has been cancelled. People have gathered at my office to solve several issues pertaining to ration cards pending for long. The programme was cancelled at the behest of the local BJP leaders,” he said.
He also accused the local BJP leadership of putting banners carrying photographs of BJP president at the venue.
