BJP MLC P.V.N. Madhav and 83 other activists were arrested on the charge of trying to attack the CPI (M) office at Jagadamba junction here on Saturday.
The incident occurred when a few hundred activists belonging to the BJP were returning after taking out a rally to express solidarity with the Janarakshana Yatra flagged by BJP National President Amit Shah in Kerala. Tension gripped the area for some time with trading of charges against each other by the rival party activists.
In a complaint, CPI (M) State secretariat member Ch. Narsinga Rao and city president B. Ganga Rao informed the Maharanipeta Police Station that without any provocation, the BJP activists not only staged a protest at their office but also roughed up some of their activists.
“The BJP goons also tried to attack me with a helmet. I escaped narrowly as our party colleagues came to my rescue,” Mr. Narsinga Rao, who is the State President of CITU, told The Hindu.
Earlier, the BJP had taken out the rally from the GVMC Gandhi statue to Saraswati Park. On their return, the BJP members raised slogans against the CPI (M) for continuing ‘murder politics’ in Kerala and not taking any action against the perpetrators of the attacks due to support from the CPI (M)-led government there. The CPI (M) office is located close to Saraswati Park. The BJP has alleged that as many as 120 of its workers have been killed in Kerala.
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When contacted, Mr. Madhav said they had taken permission for the rally as part of country-wide protests to express solidarity with their party in Kerala. Condemning their arrest, he said when they were raising slogans peacefully at the CPI (M) office, Mr. Narsinga Rao and others attacked them.
“Mr. Rao told us that if they wanted to protest they should oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies. Instead of it, they should not dare to protest in front of their office,” Mr. Madhav said.
The MLC found fault with the police for arresting only the BJP activists and alleged that the CPI (M) was not able to stomach the rising popularity of the BJP after they secured nearly 15% of votes in the Kerala Assembly elections and one of their candidates won as MLA. After the Left parties formed the government, 12 BJP activists, including a Dalit, had been brutally killed at the behest of ruling party leaders in Kerala.