Coimbatore: A Romanian national identified as Negoita Stefan Marius has landed in trouble after he was caught campaigning for Tamil Nadu’s DMK in the upcoming urban civic elections.
Stefan Marius had entered India on a Business Visa. He was seen carrying DMK banners and campaigning for the DMK in Coimbatore ahead of the local body polls. The video had gone viral on social media platforms.
In another video, Marius was seen riding a bike in Coimbatore without a mask or a helmet. He was seen adorning symbols of the ruling party and distributing pamphlets to voters near Singanallur and Ondipudur areas in Coimbatore city.
Gokul Kruba Shanker, the business partner of Marius, said that the Romanian national decided to campaign for DMK after being impressed with the Tamil Nadu government’s scheme to provide free bus passes for women.
“Mr Negoita recently took a ride on a TNSTC town bus from his hotel to my textile unit. He noticed that women were not asked for a ticket. I later told him that the free ride for women was among one of the welfare measures for the people in Tamil Nadu. He was fascinated by the idea and wanted to be a part of the campaigning for the party that introduced it for people,” said Shanker, who owns a textile unit in Coimbatore, is a DMK functionary.
Shankar said that Marius, who is into manufacturing sweaters, had entered into a partnership with him recently.
As news of Stefan Marius’s political activity became the talk of the town, the Bureau of Immigration in Chennai issued a notice to the Romanian businessman directing him to appear before it on Friday.
The notice said that Marius had been involved in political activities which are not as per his intended purpose of visa and it amounts to visa violation. The Bureau of Immigration warned that failing to appear before it along with original documents and an explanation would render him liable for prosecution under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Meanwhile, the Romanian embassy in Coimbatore has also issued a notice to Marius after he got involved in the election campaign for the DMK. The Romanian embassy has asked Marius to appear in person at the Chennai office of the immigration department.