The Kerala government is trying to crush the growing popularity of the BJP, the junior home minister said (File)
Kochi:
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Monday said the Kerala government was trying to crush the growing popularity of the BJP in the southern state.
The junior home minister is in Kerala to pay tribute to BJP leader Ranjith Srinivas – who is also the state secretary of the party’s OBC Morcha – who was murdered inside his house in Kerala’s Alappuzha on Sunday morning.
The Kerala Police had said it suspected that Srinivas was murdered in retaliation for the killing of SDPI state secretary KS Shan on Saturday.
The Union Minister told reporters in Kochi that the law and order situation in Kerala is “poor” and that is why these killings are taking place.
“What the state government wants is, by any means, to crush the growing popularity of the BJP and the increase in public support for it. For this it is protecting those who were involved in the murder and protecting those who It would be embarrassing,” he said.
The minister said that he would only ask the state government to ensure that all such cases are properly investigated and those responsible for this are arrested.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were imposed in the entire Alappuzha district due to the killings and an all-party meeting was called.
According to district officials, the all-party meeting will be held on Monday afternoon.
Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state secretary Shan was brutally attacked on Saturday night when he was on his way back home.
Police had said that he was on his way home when a car rammed his bike and as he fell down, the assailants injured about 40 of them leading to his death.
Shaan succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Kochi around midnight and was buried on Sunday evening.
Hours after Shan’s death, Srinivas was killed in front of his family by some assailants who broke into their house on Sunday morning.
The BJP leader’s last rites will be performed later in the day.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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