Will gouge eyes of those attacking Kerala party workers: BJP leader Pandey

The national general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saroj Pandey on Monday raked up a controversy by making a comment that if the killing of her party workers continued in Kerala, "eyes of the attackers will be gouged out".

Her comment drew strong criticism from the main opposition Congress.

Pandey was speaking to media on the sidelines of a programme in Kumhari area of Chhattisgarh's Durg district.

"Our national president has taken out a march (referring to Jan-Suraksha Yatra in Kerala) because in future, if they (attackers) continue to show eyes to our workers, we will gouge them out (humare rashtriya adhyaksh nemarch ki shuruwaat isliye kihai ki aane vale samay me agar hamare karyakarta ke sath isi prakar se aankh dikhane ki sthiti hogi to hum ghar me ghuskar aankh nikla lenge ye tay baat hai)," Pandey said.

She further said her party has a strength of about 11 crore workers across the world and the killing of people related to RSS and BJP in the coastal state is not acceptable in a democracy.

"Our party has a strength of 11 crore members across the world...more than 300 workers in Kerala who were 20, 22 and 25 years of age were murdered. Everybody has right to present their thoughts. But as far as the politics is concerned, I believe politics should not be done like this," she said.

"We have government (at the Centre) and based on our numbers (in Lok Sabha), we can dismiss such (state) governments.

"But we believe in democracy and the party ruling in Kerala and West Bengal should also respect democracy and should not be biased on these issues," she said.

Meanwhile, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, talking to PTI, condemned the statement made by BJP general secretary.

"A senior woman politician should not make such kind of comment. It has exposed the real face of her party and its mindset. Any kind of violence is not justified in a democracy," Baghel said.