K. Surendran. File photo
Mangaluru: BJP Kerala general secretary K. Surendran on Friday made a rancorous statement that could boomerang as a threat to his party's projected image as an innocent victim of CPM violence.
He said at a public gathering that his party had paid back the attacks and political murders committed by the rival party in the same manner in the past.
"Earlier, when we had only two percent of vote share, we had retaliated the attacks and murders committed by them (the CPM),” Surendran said.
"But now it (BJP vote share) has grown to 16 percent. And we have stopped such activities. Anyway, we won't let the CPM activists get away with the violence. Wherever you go outside Kerala, we will be there to stop you. Whether you go to Andhra Pradesh, or Madhya Pradesh or Delhi or Mangalore, we will be there to stop you,” he said.
Surendran made the statement a day before Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's proposed visit to Mangaluru to attend a communal harmony rally. The BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits have threatened to stop Pinarayi from attending the event.
Surendran's statement, which is likely to draw flak from within and outside the party, comes at a time when the BJP has been running a nationwide campaign against the violence perpetrated by the CPM against its activists.
Interestingly, the BJP leader's comments were quite similar to that of the CPM leader and electricity minister M.M. Mani who, in a controversial speech, had said that his party had 'finished off' its political rivals in the past.
