Chennai: A BJP candidate in Coimbatore came under the scanner after voters accused him of distributing silver-coated plates, saffron, green candles and rosaries during the campaign to woo minority voters.
According to a report on ABP Nadu, a candidate of the 8th ward in Karumathampatti, Periyasamy, reportedly distributed freebies along with rosaries to Christian voters in his constituency.
While the religious symbol came as a shock within the party fold, distribution of freebies against the Model Code of Code has come under the scanner of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission. The incident along with the image of the candidate on a silver-coated plate has come at a time when there are accusations against the AIADMK and DMK about distributing cash for voters and freebies.
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The incident has also come up while BJP until early February were opposing religious conversion works allegedly undertaken by Christians. They alleged that a Class 12 girl died by suicide in Thanjavur due to the religious conversion row recently. While the girl said that she took the extreme step since the warden made her perform additional works, the BJP said that in a purported video the girl said that her parents were told to permit her to convert to Christianity.
Meanwhile, BJP leader H Raja also entered into a controversy on the last day of the campaign for local body polls on Thursday after he ran into Tamil Nadu Minister KN Nehru in the field, The controversy started after the images released from the spot showed H Raja as greeting the Minister with a smile and folded hands despite critiquing DMK on stage.