On April 2, BJP’s OBC Morcha deputy leader Babu Rasappan was brutally attacked in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. As alleged by the victim, the attack was carried out by goons belonging to the VCK party, an ally of the DMK, on Saturday night.
Identified as Babu Rasappan, the victim was unloading some hay from his two-wheeler at his shop at the Vadalur Panruti Road in Cuddalore. When he heard skirmishes in a roadside shop when went to check but was brutally thrashed by 3-4 goons in return. Rasappan, who is undergoing treatment in a local hospital, has suffered serious wounds while one of his hands is almost amputated. According to the reports, the victim has accused workers of the radical Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) party of the attack on him.
Reportedly, the goons also vandalized the shop that belonged to the victim during an attack on him. Babu Rasappan who lies helpless on his hospital bed has recorded a statement wherein he said, “I went there but the three youths who were identifying themselves as the workers of the VCK party had started yelling at me. They said that they were looking for me as I am working for BJP. They attacked me till I got fainted.” Rasappan runs a modest family and has a son who is seven-months old.
Following the attack, Tamil Nadu BJP extended assistance to the victim’s family in his treatment. President of the Youth Development and Sports Unit, TN BJP, Amar Prasad Reddy has requested justice for Rasappan in a tweet directed to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin.
Local BJP Units and party workers have started open crowdfunding to support the victim’s family for his treatment.
The state of Tamil Nadu in which attacks and life threats to BJP workers are rampant saw a similar attack in 2020 where Indu Makkal Katchi founder Arjun Sampath was attacked by DMK and VCK cadres while he was on his way to pay tributes to Babasaheb Ambedkar. The extreme radical political outfit VCK was founded by Thol Thirumavalavan and remains a radical caste-based party with strong advocacy for Tamil Nationalism. It was formally known as the Dalit Panthers of India.