Ruling CPI(M) in Kerala today demanded Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's removal for his remark that the southern state was being ruled by "rogues".
CPI(M) Kerala Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Parrikar should be removed for the offensive remark.
Parrikar had made the remark at Kollam yesterday during an address at the BJP's ongoing Janaraksha Yatra, being taken out to "expose" the alleged "red terror" under the Left rule.
"While there are many similarities between Goa and Kerala, one major difference is that while in Goa there is a BJP ruled government, you (Keralites) have a government ruled by rogues," he had said.
The senior BJP leader had also said that while his party's government at the Centre was trying to take the nation on the path of development, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was "creating an atmosphere of fear."
On the statement by BJP national-secretary Saroj Pandya that if the killing of her party workers continued in Kerala, "eyes of the attackers will be gouged out", Balakrishnan charged that this was an open call for violence.
A case should be registered against her, he said.
"They cannot touch even a hair of Marxist workers, he told reporters in New Delhi.
Balakrishnan and other senior state CPI-M leaders are in Delhi attending the party's central committee meeting.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)