PUDUCHERRY: The entry of 'lady don' Ezhilarasi, who is the prime accused in the brutal murder of former Speaker V M C Sivakumar, into the BJP has created resentment in the party with its Karaikal unit opposing it vehemently.
A day after she met the state BJP president V Saminathan at a hotel on the ECR and the news was flashed in the media, the vice president of the state unit of the party who is in charge in Karaikal, V K Ganapathy, called on Nirmal Kumar Surana who is in charge of Puducherry and expressed his objection to it. Surana had come down to Puducherry from Bengaluru to participate in the agitation where the Congress manifesto was burned on Friday.
A fuming Ganapathy said that he was strongly opposed to it. "It is very unhealthy and sad. It will tarnish the image of the party and bring disrepute,” he told The New Indian Express. “Everyone knows who she is. Her notoriety and association with the underworld is well known. How can a gangster be given membership in the party,” he asked.
She is not only accused in three murders and been booked under the Goondas Act, but now is also wanted in extortion cases. She is also nurturing political ambitions of contesting from Neravy-T R Pattinam constituency in Karaikal. It will be a setback to the party’s prospects in the forthcoming assembly elections, said the former MLA, who joined the BJP a few days back.
However the state president V Saminathan finds no issue with the criminal background of Ezhilarasi. “Anyone can join the party online," he said. Admitting a person with a criminal background in the party will not tarnish its image, he said, pointing fingers at other parties who have members accused in murders and other crimes.
Ganapathy said Surana gave him a patient hearing and said that he would revert back.
BJP in Puducherry running party with rowdies: CM
Reacting to the BJP admitting Ezhilarasi into the fold, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday said the party has reached a situation where it has to be run with rowdies.
Briefing newspersons here, the Chief Minister said that Ezhilarasi was arrested several times for murder and also booked under the ‘Goondas Act’ and is now a wanted criminal. The BJP by inducting her into the party is in a position to threaten and intimidate others with rowdies and goons, charged the Chief Minister.
Orders have been issued to police to nab Ezhilarasi forthwith, he said, adding that the police department is trying to get in touch with her.
