Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP–RSS leadership following the deaths of three men in the past two months — all of whom had links to either the BJP or the RSS. In a Facebook post, he said a leadership that “drives its own workers to death, shields sexual abuse, and shelters corruption” has become a serious threat to Kerala.

The three cases he cited were: Thirumala Anilkumar, BJP councillor and Thiruvananthapuram district general secretary, found dead in his ward office on September 20 after allegedly facing financial distress; a 26-year-old Ananthu Aji, software engineer from Kottayam, who died in a Thiruvananthapuram lodge on October 9 after accusing RSS workers of sexual abuse; and Anand K Thampi (39), who died by suicide on November 15 allegedly after being denied a BJP ticket in the Thrikkannapuram ward for the local body polls and expressing anger over alleged corruption and land-mafia links within the party.

Sivankutty said these incidents had exposed an “extremely grave” situation in Kerala, claiming that allegations of sexual abuse, financial mismanagement and criminal links within the BJP–RSS system were now surfacing through the deaths of their own workers.

He referred to the video left behind by Ananthu, in which he accused an RSS leader of sexually abusing him. The minister said the revelation pointed to the “internal decay” of the organisation.

He also noted that Anilkumar’s suicide note indicated he felt abandoned by his party during a severe financial crisis — a reflection, he said, of the BJP leadership’s “neglect of its own workers.” In the case of Anand Thampi, Sivankutty said the deceased was deeply upset over being denied a ticket and had openly criticised corruption within the local leadership, reportedly writing in his note that “living as an RSS worker was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Sivankutty also recalled the allegations of former BJP state spokesperson M S Kumar, who had claimed after Anilkumar’s death that the cooperative society he was associated with was riddled with financial irregularities. Kumar said that nearly 70 per cent of the borrowers and 90 per cent of the defaulters were BJP members, calling it evidence of deeper systemic rot.

The minister predicted that the upcoming local body elections would reflect the “growing resentment” against what he described as the BJP’s collapsing leadership, adding that the party was likely to suffer a significant setback in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. “Kerala will reject politics rooted in communalism and violence,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar dismissed Anand Thampi's allegations, stating that he was not a party member and had recently joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. Party leaders said Anand had hoped to contest as an independent after failing to secure a BJP ticket, and clarified that V Vinod Kumar is the BJP’s official candidate in the Thrikkannapuram ward.