Kochi: Activist Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, on Monday requested Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to order the police to withdraw the cases filed against RSS/BJP workers who staged a protest against him recently.

Gandhi wrote a letter to the chief minister thanking for the support extended after the RSS protest against him. He, however, said the protesters were only exercising their democratic right. He said surprisingly the RSS/BJP cadre in Kerala who protested against him were non-violent unlike their counterparts in other states.

"I was shocked that even in Kerala, the RSS BJP combine has become so arrogant and aggressive. I would have expected such a confrontation, or even worse, in any other state, not in Kerala. This evil nexus must be curtailed and eradicated from Kerala and from our beloved nation. Having said that, I am a believer and follower of our constitution and all the rights and liberties it grants us as citizens of India, that is, Bharat.

"Our Constitution accords us the freedom of expression as well as the right to protest, in a civil manner. At Neyyattinkara, I exercised my right of expression, similarly the RSS BJP activists exercised their right to protest, although they were aggressive and arrogant but their protest was surprisingly non-violent, I appreciate this amount of civility which is generally absent in RSS BJP cadres," he said.

He said he had immediately decided that he would not file a complaint against the protesters and requested the CM to order the police to drop the cases taken by them suo motu.

BJP Neyyatinkara Municipal councillors Maheshan Nair, Krishnakumar, Hari Kumar, Sooraj and Anoop were arrested and released on station bail following the Neyyatinkara incident. A case was registered against them under Sections 189(2), 191(2), 190, and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on charges of unlawful assembly, rioting, and wrongful restraint.

The Sangh Parivar activists raised slogans against Tushar Gandhi at the end of a function he attended at Neyyattinkara on Wednesday evening where he made a scathing attack on RSS and BJP. Congress and CPM leaders condemned the protests.