PUDUCHERRY: Following the battering it received in the wake of the sexual assault and murder of the nine-year-old girl, the BJP, which is part of the ruling alliance in the union territory, has gone into damage control mode.
In a bid to restore faith in the NDA ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a BJP delegation met the parents of the victim at their residence at Solai Nagar on Thursday and handed over a compensation of Rs 5 lakh on behalf of the party.
BJP state president S Selvaganapathy, party’s Puducherry in-charge Nirmal Kumar Surana, speaker R Selvam, minister Sai Saravana Kumar, MLAs, and several party functionaries offered their condolences and assured the parents that justice will be served.
“The child’s unfortunate demise is being politicised by the opposition parties. The government is doing everything it can to ensure that the perpetrators receive the maximum punishment possible,” Selvaganapathy said. This is the second visit paid by BJP members to the parents. Party MLAs had offered floral tributes to the girl’s mortal remains and consoled the family during the funeral.
However, home minister and leader of BJP legislature party A Namassivayam, who is in the eye of the storm over the sexual assault and murder case, was conspicuous by his absence during the visit on Thursday. He is also one of the persons the party has shortlisted for fielding in the lone Lok Sabha seat in Puducherry.
Following the murder, a post from an anonymous handle claiming that one of the accused men, Vivekanandan, was a BJP member, had gone viral on the X platform. The post was withdrawn after MLA Ashok Babu lodged a complaint about it with the cyber crime cell.
Earlier in the day, Nirmal Kumar Surana chaired a meeting with Selvaganabathy, ministers, MLAs, former BJP presidents and senior party functionaries. He elicited their views regarding the shortlisted candidates for the final time before forwarding the list to the central leadership, sources said.