Romanian who campaigned for DMK in Coimbatore gets visa rule violation notice

Negoita Stefan Marius, who arrived in Tamil Nadu on a business visa, is said to have decided to campaign for the ruling party after coming across women travelling free of cost on buses under a government scheme

The Bureau of Immigration has asked Negoita Stefan Marius, who holds a business visa (e-visa), to appear at its office in Chennai on Friday with his original documents (Image credit: Screenshot from Sun News video)

A Romanian national who made headlines campaigning for the DMK ahead of the urban local body polls has received a notice to appear before the Bureau of Immigration over the alleged violation of visa rules.

The bureau asked Negoita Stefan Marius, who holds a business visa (e-visa), to appear at its office in Chennai on Friday with his original documents and an explanation for allegedly violating visa rules by participating in activities that are not part of the stated purpose of his visit to India. “Non-compliance of above directions will render you liable for prosecution under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946,” the notice read.

On a business trip to Tamil Nadu, Marius boarded a local bus in Coimbatore and was said to have been pleasantly shocked to see women travelling without tickets, only to learn shortly that the DMK-led state government offers women free rides on state-run city and town buses.

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Marius’s friend Dr Gokul Kiruba Shankar, a DMK leader, told indianexpress.com: “He used to visit Coimbatore and Tiruppur for visiting garment factories. A lawyer by profession, he always preferred public transport. So on one occasion when he travelled from the airport to a hotel, he was surprised by seeing women having free rides on government buses. He called me and I told him about the scheme. He then asked whether he could campaign for our party, I agreed and then introduced him to our members and he started to campaign on buses and other public areas. We never expected that his campaign would go this viral. Now he has got a notice from the Bureau of Immigration to appear tomorrow at their office. So he is a bit concerned.”

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Wearing a DMK towel around his neck, Marius rode a motorcycle with party flags and distributed pamphlets at places like bus stops. Speaking to Sun News, a Tamil news TV channel, Marius said he had never seen “anything like this anywhere else in the world”.

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