BJP candidate, 30 others injured in Tamil Nadu attack

BJP candidate Muruganandam and at least 30 other people were injured in an attack Monday while they were campaigning in the Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu, the party said.

Condemning the attack, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Pon. Radhakrishnan said in a statement: "The attack by miscreants was meant to destabilise the party's poll campaign."

Radhakrishnan said around 30 people who were with Muruganandam were injured and around 20 two-wheelers were damaged in the attack.

He said the attack took place in Mallipattinam in Thanjavur district, around 320 km from Chennai.

Radhakrishnan said the party had obtained permission from police for carrying out the campaign, but police did not provide sufficient security.

He urged the authorities to take preventive action in future to curb such attacks as campaigning during an election was a basic democratic right.

Meanwhile, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss in a statement said attacks on candidates of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu had increased after the announcement of the general election.

Stating that PMK candidates including himself were attacked while campaigning, Ramadoss urged the Election Commission and police to take action against the attackers and also increase security to NDA candidates.