CHENNAI: A day ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chennai, the city witnessed protests by youths in a few places, including Sivananda Salai and Besant Nagar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar or his removal from the key post immediately.
The city police arrested more than 100 cadres of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) as they attempted to march to the Secretariat demanding the removal of the CEC. The protesters were stopped by police while proceeding along Sivananda Salai after assembling near the Periyar statue on Anna Salai. Despite resistance and heated arguments, they were detained at a community hall.
DMK deputy general secretary A Raja and party functionaries went to the community hall and expressed their solidarity with the youths protested. Raja told the students that he and other DMK functionaries would not leave the place until the arrested students are released.
Meanwhile, DMK president MK Stalin, in his social media post, said that the students and political leaders who have been arrested across the county should be released immediately.
“I strongly condemn the TVK Government in Tamil Nadu for acting as an extension of the BJP and unleashing police repression against protesting students,” Stalin said.
The DMK president said the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is non-negotiable. He said the Union government must immediately end its assault on the youth who are peacefully exercising their democratic right to protest. “Dissent is not a crime, and democracy cannot survive by silencing those who rise to defend it,” he added.