Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s visit to slain Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Rajesh’s residence in the city and his address to a gathering of families affected by political violence on Sunday were projected as a unique expression of solidarity with its workers, but it seemed that the senior leader was giving a clear message to the State government that the Centre and the party will not brook political violence any more.
As an emissary of the BJP national leadership, Mr. Jaitley’s visit to the nondescript housing colony at Parambukonam where Rajesh resided is being seen as a morale booster to the rank and file. But at the `Shradanjali Sadas’ (commemoration meeting) held at a nearby hall, the refrain was that the Centre would not take things as it came and the State should step in to curb violence.
A stoic silence prevailed in the locale when Mr. Jaitley reached Rajesh’s house at 12 noon. A motley crowd comprising Sangh Parivar activists and senior BJP leaders had gathered well ahead of his arrival, but the characteristic din and bustle of a VIP visit were not there. Senior leaders, including BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan and national executive member V. Muralidharan escorted him to the small rented house.
Mr. Jaitley turned a patient listener when the family members comprising Rajesh’s parents Sudarshan and Lalitha Kumari and his wife Reena related their woes. They confided that the violence was uninstigated and the only provocation was that Rajesh was an RSS activist since age 9. They had no house and have been rendered resourceless.
Mr. Jaitley offered an assistance collected by the State BJP unit and moved to the hall where the commemoration meeting was organised. He flayed the culture of political violence being perpetrated by the ruling party and said it was depriving a State endorsed with natural and human resources of its due.