BJP, Cong men fight over statue garlanding in Tamil Nadu

Coimbatore: The BJP and Congress workers came to near blows while paying tributes to late K. Kamaraj in Salem on his birth anniversary on Sunday before police intervened and restored order.

The incident occurred in the presence of Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan when he arrived along with party workers to garland a statue of the Congress icon in Second Agraharam area of Salem, about 160 km from here, the police said.

A quarrel broke out between them after Congress workers objected to BJP flags around the statue of their leader, a former chief minister of Tamil Nadu whose 115th birth anniversary was celebrated across the state on Sunday. A section of the BJP members and the Congress workers were involved in a push and shove for some time, the police said.

However, the police, who were present, managed to pacify both the groups and brought the situation under control, they said.

Chief minister K. Palaniswami, his deputy O. Panneerselvam along with senior party colleagues paid floral tributes to a portrait of Kamaraj in Virudhuna-gar, the home town of the late leader in south Tamil Nadu.

Fisheries minister D. Jayakumar paid floral tributes to a statue of Kamaraj in Chennai.

The event at Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the headquarters of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, was marked among others by cultural debates and a bike rally.

DMK working president M.K. Stalin, BJP Tamil Nadu unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan and AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran were among those who paid their tributes to Kamaraj, known for his simple life-style and introducing the mid-day meal scheme in schools during his rule (1954-63).