Thrissur: Responding to protests from the BJP, Thrissur Corporation Mayor MK Varghese has directed the reinstallation of flex boards and flags that were initially set up as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. The boards were previously taken down by the Corporation workers.
As said by the Mayor, the Corporation did not order the removal of the hoardings; instead, they were taken down on special direction from the city police following the request from the PM's security officers.
The BJP workers, led by the party's district leadership had erected hundreds of flex boards to welcome the Prime Minister who will arrive in Thrissur to address a mass gathering of two lakh women at the BJP's Mahila Conference on Wednesday.
The Corporation workers on Monday started removing the hoarding erected in the Swaraj Round without any prior information, an act objected to by the BJP workers under the leadership of district president KK Aneesh Kumar.
Terming the Thrissur Corporation’s move as pure arrogance and a high level of intolerance, Kumar questioned the motive behind removing the boards even before the programme was conducted. “The Thrissur Corporation ordered to change only BJP’s boards although there were hundreds of boards of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Nava Kerala Sadas and then boards of INTUC state conference etc in the city,” Kumar said. He alleged that even the Prime Minister is not being delivered justice and equality offered in the democratic system prevalent in the country.
In protest, the BJP leaders, workers and councillors marched to the Thrissur Corporation headquarters and erected the party flag and a board displaying the Prime Minister at the corporation office gate.
Meanwhile, Thrissur Corporation Mayor MK Varghese told the media that the Corporation has not given instructions to remove the flex boards installed in the city in connection with the PM’s visit.
“The corporation employees tried to remove the boards based on special instructions given by the city police at the behest of the PM’s security officers. It is untrue and wrong to publicise that the act was under the direction of the Corporation,” the mayor said.
Thrissur turns into a saffron city
Thrissur is all set to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi with saffron drapes and flagpoles. The city is under the security of the Special Protection Group (SPG).
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's programmes have been changed slightly and he will arrive in the city at 2 pm, one hour earlier than announced earlier. He will land in a helicopter at the Kuttanellur helipad and travel to Thrissur city by road.
The BJP state leadership has organised a reception for the PM at Kuttanellur as well as near the Thrissur District General Hospital. Modi will then lead a road show up to Naikkanal where he will address the Mahila Conference which will be attended by around 2 lakh women.
