Cauvery row: MDMK workers protest with black flags and balloons against Narendra Modi's visit to Tamil Nadu

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko and his party workers on Thursday held a protest with black flags and balloons outside the Raj Bhavan in Chennai against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state over the Cauvery issue, reports said. Protests against Modi’s visit were also held near the airport in Alandur area.

This comes a day after the main Opposition party, DMK, asked people to hoist black flags atop their houses to oppose his visit. MDMK general secretary Vaiko (a former DMK leader) had said that his party would hold a black flag demonstration at Little Mount against Modi’s visit for his “betrayal” of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue. T Velmurugan, coordinator of Tamizhar Vazhvurimai Koottamaippu, an umbrella body of pro-Tamil outfits including ‘May 17’, had announced a ‘black balloon-cum-black flag’ protest. Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi chief M Thamimun Ansari had said that a black flag demonstration would be staged at Guindy which is near the airport. Ansari said volunteers from Tamizhar Kalai Ilakkiya Panpattu Peravai, a forum of art, literary and film personalities and Cauvery Rights Retrieval Committee, would also participate in the protests. Tight security arrangements, including a multiple-layer security ring, were put in place for Modi’s visit, police had said. DMK’s working president MK Stalin had appealed to people to hoist black flags and wear black badges as a mark of protest. With inputs from PTI