Protesters arrested for lacking permission, not for anti-CEC stance: Nirmal Kumar
Tamil Nadu Energy Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar defended the arrest of protesters demonstrating against the Chief Election Commissioner, stating they lacked the necessary permits. He dismissed opposition criticism, arguing that the protest site regulations were inherited from the previous administration and that his party maintains ideological differences with the protesting groups.
Why it matters
The incident reflects ongoing political tensions in Tamil Nadu and debates over the right to protest versus administrative compliance.
Minister for Energy Resources and Law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar clarified that the arrests of protesters demonstrating against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar occurred because they lacked prior permission and failed to assemble at designated protest sites.
Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Saturday, he explained that the allocation of specific protest locations was not introduced by the current TVK administration, but rather inherited from the previous DMK government, which established the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and designated sites.
Stating that the TVK government has no objection to public demonstrations against the CEC or the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)—having already opposed the SIR politically—he dismissed criticism from Opposition leaders.
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