The Madras high court observed that there was no need to grant permission to erect banners as the ban only applied to political parties. Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely visit Mahabalipuram later this month for an informal summit with PM Modi
Chennai: The ruling AIADMK was successful in obtaining permission from the Madras high court to erect 41 flex boards in order to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese President will be welcomed later this month by the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre with banners erected between Chennai Airport and Mahabalipuram on East Coast Road, Old Mahabalipuram Road and in Mahabalipuram town.
The court observed that there was no lifting of a ban on flex boards required in this case as the ban applied only to political parties. The high court, however, asked whether banners would be erected in Delhi to welcome the foreign dignitaries who are set to visit the national capital.
The Tamil Nadu (TN) government and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are looking to erect banners at 19 places in Chennai (5 -TN, 14-MEA), 16 locations on East Coast Road (7-TN, 9-MEA) and at 6 places in Mahabalipuram (4-TN, 2-MEA).
The move to erect banners was met with opposition by the DMK.
The opposition comes at a time when the state has been reeling under a pressure after the death of a techie Subhasri, who met her demise after she came under the wheels of a truck when an illegal hoarding fell upon her.
The party however stated that the government must gain permission from local authorities first.
Chinese President Xi will most likely visit Mahabalipuram for his second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week.
The first informal summit took place in Wuhan last year. The summit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties which were strained after a 73-day standoff in Bhutan's Doklam plateau in 2017.
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