The Madras High Court on Friday, March 15, permitted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to conduct a road show led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore on March 18. The permission was denied by the police on Sunday, which was challenged in the Madras HC by a BJP functionary. 

Coimbatore Police refused to grant permission for the road show on Sunday by citing that there are multiple hospitals, bus stands, schools and higher educational institutions located in and around the road for which the BJP has sought permission. According to the police, the road show, which is to take place at 4 pm will take place during evening rush hour and may disturb commuters. Since board examinations for classes 10 and 12 are also taking place, the police also said that students will be disturbed. Further, the police further said intelligence agencies have asked them to provide security for the PM and it would be difficult for them to do so for a stretch of four kilometres. They added that Coimbatore was a communally sensitive region. 

The road show would begin from Kolai Mettupalayam road and pass through Thiruvenkatasamy road and finish at the RS Puram Head Post Office. The district’s BJP functionaries had said that they are expecting one lakh people to participate.

BJP President Rajesh Kumar, who pursued the case after the police refused to grant permission said, “In war-prone Kashmir, peace has been restored and the Prime Minister’s road show was successfully conducted. Similarly, a road show took place in Kerala as well where terrorism is prevalent. It makes us sad to know that in Tamil Nadu, a peaceful state, permission is not being granted.”