Removal of Bharat Mata statue from party office: BJP moves HC

Madurai: The Virudhunagar district BJP filed a petition before the Madras High Court on Tuesday, seeking a direction to prevent authorities from interfering with its right to install a Bharat Mata statue on the party office premises in Virudhunagar.The court was hearing a petition filed by BJP Virudhunagar East district president G Pandurangan. The petitioner stated that a statue of Bharat Mata, holding the Indian flag, was installed on the BJP party office premises in Virudhunagar. They had planned to unveil the statue through a grand function.However, during the night hours of August 7, police and revenue officials trespassed into the office and removed the statue without any prior notice or orders. The statue was installed on the party office premises, which is their patta land. The actions of the authorities appear to be politically motivated, with the DMK government interfering in BJP’s political functions, he said.Hence, the petitioner approached the court, seeking a directive for the authorities to return the statue and to refrain from interfering with their right to install it.During the hearing, the state submitted that a division bench of the court had previously directed that no one should be permitted to install statues in the state without obtaining prior permission from the authorities. It was further submitted that the government had issued a circular outlining guidelines for installing statues on private patta lands in the state.Since the counsel representing the petitioner requested time to receive instructions, Justice D Nagarjun adjourned the hearing in the case to September 5.