A minister in the union cabinet has questioned the silence of the “proponents of intolerance” over the murder of an RSS leader in Kerala.

Latching on to a CPI (M) leader having been made an accused in the murder of an RSS functionary in Kerala, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh on Friday tweeted:

"Learned that a senior CPI(M) leader (was) named (as an) accused in murder of a Kerala #RSS functionary. Why are the proponents of #intolerance quiet now?"

Singh, who had been in Congress for a long time, joined BJP in August 2014 before the Haryana Assembly polls.

Congress along with other Opposition parties, including the Left, has taken a strident stand against the government on the issue of intolerance.

In a setback to CPI-M in Kerala, CBI on Thursday listed the party's senior leader P Jayarajan as an accused and framed charges against him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the murder of an RSS functionary.

Jayarajan, the party's Kannur district secretary who had been summoned by CBI in connection with the probe, was arraigned as the 25th accused in the case relating to the murder of RSS worker E Manoj in September 2014, allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers.