Something surprising happened in the Delhi editions of all national newspapers on Monday: They all carried a full-page advertisement of the Kerala government, explaining what made Kerala the “number one state in the country.”
The advertisement given by Kerala government lists out the sectors Kerala tops the country. It says the state has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, according to an India Today survey. It also points out that Kerala is the best governed state according to the Public Affairs index 2017, and the state is best at communal harmony.
The ad claims that Kerala has less corruption (Indian corruption study 2017), highest human development indices and highest literacy.
The advertisement also adds the quotes from Sri M, Justice KT Thomas and Kamal Hassan, praising the virtues of Kerala.
Apparently, this is a reply to the ongoing campaign by BJP and RSS at the centre against the CPI (M) in Kerala over its infamous political killings.
The whole scenario started after the death of E Rajesh, an RSS cadre who was killed in Sreekaryam of Thiruvananthapuram last month.
BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had raised the issue of attack against BJP workers in Parliament recently, which sparked off a huge campaign across Kerala over the increasing attacks on RSS and BJP workers in the state.
On Sunday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reached Thiruvananthapuram and paid a visit to E Rajesh’s family.
"It is cruelty of a barbaric nature... Even an enemy country wouldn't do this kind of brutality but a political party did this. You have a series of these incidents in which a large number of political workers are being killed, party offices have been attacked, our President of the state unit got saved by a whisker. We will not forget this heinous act. I am here to express my solidarity on behalf of our party," he told media.
He also came down heavily on the state government, saying, “Governments are elected to do good for the people. But in Kerala, the ruling party is perpetrating violence on the people. This type of ideology won't crush our ideology."
However, the CPI (M) had argued back that it was RSS who murdered their men. Crime records from the Kerala Police, accessed by NDTV, recently revealed that the number of murdered CPI (M) cadres outnumber the murdered RSS workers. However, it is unclear who the attackers were in all cases, and whether the rivalry was primarily only between these two factions.
The report states that 85 CPI(M) workers, 65 RSS/BJP workers and 11 workers of Congress and IUML each, have been killed in the last 17 years, mostly by their political rivals.
Addressing this defence, Jaitley said, “The kind of argument which is being propounded, which I have read in a section of media, that there are victims on all sides... This fake equivalence which is sought to be brought between the perpetrators of crime and victims... If the argument is eventually to rely on this fake equivalence, that attitude will not bring violence to an end.”
There are even reports that RSS leaders at the Centre are seeking President’s rule in Kerala. However, CPI (M) has defended that it was RSS/BJP who unleash the terror and that the party should introspect. Earlier, advertisements of Pinarayi Vijayan’s swearing-in ceremony in the Delhi edition of several newspapers had created a controversy, even within the party.
The party also faced criticism for spending so much on advertisements, and was also criticised for creating personality cults. The advertisement appeared with CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s photo in a red background, with a tagline, “Committed to turn Kerala into truly God’s own country.”