Tensions rise as RSS leader calls for Kerala CM's murder (Roundup)

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared on Thursday he was not bothered by a RSS leader's offer of Rs 1 crore to have him killed, but the CPI-M warned the RSS to behave.

And even as the Kerala units of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) distanced themselves from Madhya Pradesh RSS leader Kundan Chandrawat's threat on Wednesday, the latter on Thursday said he did not regret making the remarks.

"The RSS in the past has taken the heads of others but I have to move around, and I will," Vijayan, who took power in May last year, said in his characteristic style and broke into a laugh.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) announced protests on Friday across Kerala and demanded that a case be registered against Chandrawat on terrorism charges.

"The true colour of the RSS has come out again," the CPI-M said in a statement.

CPI-M Kerala Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the RSS won't be able to "remove even a hair of Vijayan" and warned the organisation "not to play with the CPI-M".

"If they do, then we will be forced to teach them certain things."

Opposition leader and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the RSS leader should be immediately arrested.

CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence after Chandrawat's announcement of a bounty to have Vijayan beheaded.

Holding Vijayan responsible for the killing of 300 RSS activists in Kerala, Chandrawat said on Wednesday he will give away his entire property worth over Rs 1 crore to whoever kills the Marxist veteran.

The statement was made at Ujjain in the presence of BJP MP Chintaman Malviya, BJP MLA Mohan Yadav and other RSS leaders. The video of the RSS leader has gone viral.

In his speech, Chandrawat warned that the RSS would respond to the killing of its 300 activists by presenting a "garland of 300,000 skulls" to "Bharat Mata" and said, "Leftists, beware".

He also boasted that for the killing of 59 Hindus at Godhra in Gujarat in 2002, "we sent 2,000 (Muslims) to the graveyard".

But the Kerala unit of the RSS said Chandrawat did not speak for the Hindu nationalist group whose growth in Kerala has led to violent clashes with Marxists over the years.

Kerala RSS unit leader J. Nandakumar said: "The RSS never speaks in such a manner and we strongly condemn it.

"We have always followed the policy of engaging in democratic forms of protests. We will continue to do that despite the attacks the CPI-M in Kerala has launched on us."

Kerala BJP leader A.N. Radhakrishnan denounced the Madhya Pradesh RSS leader's statement.

"The BJP believes in democracy even when hundreds of its workers have been killed. Everyone knows who are the ones who shield murderers and the CPI-M even has a minister charged in a murder case," he said.

Yechury said: "RSS reveals its true colours as a terrorist outfit. Will the PM and his government stop remaining silent?"

The CPI-M said in a separate statement: "The frustration of RSS is coming out in the open. Will the BJP government in (Madhya Pradesh) and at the Centre take action?"

--IANS

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