CHENNAI: BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran on Tuesday accused the INDIA bloc of attempting to intimidate and undermine the judiciary, warning that the people would firmly reject such efforts.

In a statement, Nainar Nagenthran condemned the move by MPs belonging to the INDIA bloc to initiate impeachment proceedings against Justice GR Swaminathan, claiming that the judge has been targeted for delivering a historic verdict upholding the cultural rights of Tamils. Calling the attempt shameful and politically motivated, he said it exposed the alliance's contempt for democratic institutions.

Taking a dig at the Congress, the bloc's leader, Nainar said the nation still shudders at the memory of the Emergency, a period during which the Constitution was distorted beyond recognition. The BJP legislature leader alleged that the DMK, the Congress's key ally in Tamil Nadu, continued the same tradition by elevating leaders who had earlier spoken of demolishing century-old temples and by retaining individuals who had allegedly mocked the sacred 'Kanda Sashti Kavacham'.

"In a democratic nation, the DMK government's authoritarian attempt to curb the right to worship was struck down by the judiciary. That judicial check has rattled them, and now they seek to muzzle the very system that protected people's rights," he said.

Describing the move as a direct assault on the judiciary, the BJP leader asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would oppose and defeat any such effort.