Vijayan slams MP govt; incident draws flak from Cong-led UF

Describing it as a "bitter experience", Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today hit out at the BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh a day after he was advised by police there not to attend an event in Bhopal following Sangh Parivar protest.
The incident also drew flak from rival Congress-led UDF in Kerala.
Slamming the BJP-led government and RSS, Vijayan, who is a senior member of the CPI(M) politburo, said what happened in Bhopal was "unjustifiable".
He said it was a "reflection of culture" of the RSS and its affiliates.
Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy described as "shocking and unfortunate" what Vijayan experienced in the BJP-ruled state and said it was a "naked violation of protocol" underlined in relations between the states in a federal structure.

BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, however, hit out at Vijayan, accusing him of playing "low level politics" over the issue.

Noting that such incidents have "never ever" happened in Kerala, Vijayan said recently when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited a village in politically volatile Kannur district in the midst of high tension due to political violence, no such incidents had occurred there.
"This is the difference in the mindset and culture," said Vijayan, terming the incident as a "bitter experience".
The chief minister alleged that the Madhya Pradesh police did not take action against the protesters as it was organised by RSS.

"When a chief minister of a state is going to attend a programme, a protest is organised without any reason. And police is not taking any action as the protest is being organised by the RSS... Then they (the police) asking the chief minister not to attend the function.
"We should see a cultural issue in it," Vijayan told reporters in Kochi.
The CPI(M) Kerala state secretariat described as "uncivilised" the alleged action of Madhya Pradesh government, its police and RSS in preventing the chief minister from attending the function.
The party alleged that the incident happened with the knowledge of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP's national leadership.

Vijayan was supposed to attend a felicitation programme by Kerala Samaj yesterday. However, when he was about to leave for the venue, Madhya Pradesh Police told him not to go there as RSS and other organisations were protesting against it.