Congress, BJP question ‘celebrations’ over Perarivalan’s release

Chennai: A day after the Supreme Court released Perarivalan, a life convict in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Tamil Nadu Congress and BJP separately questioned the “celebrations” after the development.

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) staged a ‘silent protest’ across the State against his release with its cadre tying their mouths. The party’s Dharmapuri district unit president K Chitrarasu resigned from his post claiming he was unable to reconcile his party’s alliance with “those celebrating” the release of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers. The Congress is an ally of the ruling DMK.

Former TNCC president Su Thirunavukarasar condemned the celebrations by some sections of people over Perarivalan’s release. “Perarivalan did not go to jail as a ‘tyagi’. He was a convict who has now come out due to certain legal circumstances. This is not something to be celebrated,” he told journalists.

Separately, BJP State president K Annamalai questioned Chief Minister M K Stalin hugging Perarivalan when the latter met him on Wednesday night with his mother Arputhammal. “Stalin and the DMK are behaving as if Perarivalan and the other six convicts in the case were innocents and had achieved something big,” he charged.

Annamalai questioned if the Chief Minister, who had taken oath under the Constitution, would be able to safeguard the people as he had “received” Perarivalan at the airport. “The Supreme Court has not said these persons are innocents. The BJP accepts the judgment but these seven are murderers,” he said.

When journalists pointed out that even top leaders of the BJP’s ally, the AIADMK, had met Perarivalan, he claimed the AIADMK did not “celebrate it like the DMK”.

Published on: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 09:24 PM IST