High Court grants permission for Modi’s roadshow in Coimbatore

Earlier in the day, the BJP state unit had approached the Madras High Court, challenging a police order denying permission to PM Modi's road show in Coimbatore on March 18.

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday allowed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Coimbatore, to be held on March 18, by imposing a few conditions after the Tamil Nadu Police refused permission citing a slew of issues, including security concerns.

Modi, who is making a major push in south India ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is scheduled to visit Coimbatore in Western Tamil Nadu, where his party, BJP, has a base of its own and pulling all stops to demonstrate its strength in the region.

However, the police refused permission for the 4-km roadshow from Mettupalayam Road to R S Puram, one of the locations where blasts occurred in 1998 ahead of veteran BJP leader L K Advani’s visit to the city, due to "security risks". The police is also believed to have taken into account the city’s communally-sensitive nature, and potential inconvenience to people, especially students as board exams for plus-two are scheduled.

Hours after the police formally communicated the denial of permission, Tamil Nadu BJP moved the Madras High Court seeking approval for the roadshow.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who heard the case, set aside the police order and directed the officer concerned to grant permission for the roadshow and asked the police to find alternative routes to ensure smooth movement of the general public and vehicles.

“Ultimately, these leaders have been chosen by the people and hence, they should not be stopped from meeting the people who elected them,” the judge said, adding that the police can impose reasonable conditions like ban on erection of flex boards on the route and determining the roadshow’s route.

Coimbatore, a communally-sensitive city which had in the past witnessed clashes between Hindus and Muslims, is one of the constituencies where the BJP believes it has a chance to win this Lok Sabha elections.

The PM’s roadshow comes amid speculation that the BJP will field its state unit chief K Annamalai from Coimbatore.

Police sources said that the permission was denied because of the sensitive nature of the city and the roadshow’s end location -- R S Puram, an argument which wasn’t accepted by the Madras High Court.

Though the city hasn’t witnessed any terror incident, in 2022, on the eve of Deepavali, Coimbatore escaped from a “terror attack” after 29-year-old Jameesha Mubin was killed when one of the LPG cylinders in his Maruti 800 exploded just yards away from the famous Kottai Eswaran Temple. Police suspect that Mubin stopped the car after seeing police on duty near the temple and the vehicle exploded minutes later.