Describing the attack on its state headquarters as a 'premeditated act of violence' involving Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ministers, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday petitioned Tamil Nadu Governor S S Barnala to recommend to the Centre to dismiss the Karunanidhi government.
A party delegation, including BJP state unit president L Ganesan and party national secretary S Thirunavukkarasar, MP, submitted a memorandum to the governor at Raj Bhavan in Chennai.
Ganesan said the party will stage state-wide demonstrations on Tuesday, protesting against the attack.
Earlier, a core committee of the BJP state unit held a meeting at 'Kamalalayam,' the party headquarters which bore the brunt of DMK cadres' fury over former BJP member of Parliament Ram Vilas Vedanti's remarks against DMK patriarch and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
The party office still stood witness to Sunday's violence with broken glass panes and stones strewn around.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Ganesan said the party would also move court seeking a direction to order CBI inquiry into the incident.
He alleged that senior DMK leader and Electricity Minister Arcot Veerasamy was responsible for the entire episode as his statement on Saturday that the party would give a fitting reply to Vedanti's reported 'fatwa' against Karunanidhi had instigated the DMK cadres.
While Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi and city Mayor M Subramanian had led the attack on the BJP office, another Minister K K S S R Ramachandran had made an inflammatory speech against the BJP, he said.
He alleged that the attack was carred out with the help of the police.
Ganesan said the DMK was "frustrated" with the Centre for having withdrawn the affidavit filed before the Supreme
Court on Sethusamudram project, without consulting it.
"As they are not able to clash with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, they are attacking the buildings," he said.
Making it clear that the BJP did not endorse the reported remark of Vedanti, he questioned the need for a senior leader like Veerasamy to react to his statement.
Thirunavukkarasar said the attack on the office of a political party was unprecedented in Tamil Nadu.
Karunanidhi was a seasoned politician and he could've prevented the violence, he added.
Referring to Karunanidhi's statement on Sunday that the DMK's protest on the issue was over and there would not be further demonstrations, he said Veerasamy, on the other hand, had announced that the cadres would not resort to picketing but would continue with demonstrations.
"Is there any differences of opinion between Karunanidhi and Veerasamy?" he wondered.
Refuting Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu's charge that it was the then BJP-led government that approved the present alignment of Sethusamudram project in 1999, Thirunavukkarasar said the matter was not finalised then.
He also questioned why the DMK's allies had not condemned the attack on the BJP office.
"This might happen to them also in the future. But, the BJP will definitely condemn such acts of violence," he said.
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