Kerala BJP leader K Surendran’s speech boasting about the ‘retaliatory power’ of the BJP has now landed him in a soup. A case has been filed against Surendran’s speech in Mangaluri by CPI (M) MLA Swaraj.
Surendran in his speech on Friday said that BJP and RSS had indulged in political violence in the state, and had committed murders.
“During the last Assembly election we got 30 lakh votes at 16 per cent. Even when we secured 5 lakh votes we retaliated every time there was a murder. But now we don't do that. But we will not leave you,” he said.
M Swaraj in his complaint has said that around 30 SFI and DYFI members have been murdered during the last UDF regime in Kerala. He alleged that Surendran’s revelations hint at how the Sangh Parivar is involved in these murders.
Criticising Surendran, CPI (M) leader MV Jayarajan said, “A political party leader think that their vote share increased because they killed their rivals. Such kinds of people are harm to democracy,” he told reporters.
Surendran’s comments come at a time when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has initiated peace talks to curb the violence in Kannur and other parts of Kerala. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran told the media that Surendran’s statement could be aimed at breaking the talks. “Chief Minister took the initiative and held bilateral talks with CPM and BJP. This was followed by an all party meeting in Kannur. You cannot kill people whether you secure 2 lakh or 30 lakh votes,” he said.
Surendran is now being mocked as the MM Mani of BJP by many social media users. MM Mani, a controversial leader of the CPI(M) faces a case of hate speech against him for openly talking about revenge killings and issuing warnings to detractors.