Those oppressed by Left may have razed Lenin statue: Giriraj
PTI|
Mar 06, 2018, 07.30 PM IST
Union minister Giriraj Singh today said people who were "oppressed" during the Left's 25-year rule in Tripura might have brought down a statue of communist icon Vladimir Lenin in the state.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party or its ideology does not propagate violence but the Left does," the BJP leader asserted, a day after a five-foot fibreglass statue of the late Soviet leader was pulled down by suspected BJP workers in South Tripura's Belonia town, about 110 kilometres from capital Agartala.
Only time would tell who was responsible for razing the statue in the north-eastern state, he said.
"So many people were oppressed by the Left. Some of them must have this feeling of revenge," Singh told reporters here.
The BJP defeated the CPI(M) and is all set to form a government in the state, along with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).
The Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises added that many people had been killed under Left rule in states such as Kerala.
Mocking the BJP's rivals over their angry reaction to the statue being toppled, Singh said, "I never heard them say anything over the demolition of thousands of temples in the past, including those in Kashi (Varanasi), Mathura and Ayodhya."
Singh also stressed to a TV channel that the BJP had never embraced violence for political gains, hours after the CPI(M) accused the saffron party of unleashing an "unprecedented reign of terror" in the state following the announcement of election results.
"The BJP has never taken the support of violence. Leftists have taken the support of violence and that is the why they are feeling like that (about the BJP spreading violence)," he said.
Union minister S S Ahluwalia, too, said he did not approve of violence but it occurred whenever elections were held in communist-ruled states, irrespective of the Left's victory or defeat.
"Any election taking place in a communist-ruled state, whether they lose or win, violence will take place," he told a news channel outside Parliament.
Sporadic incidents of violence and clashes between rival political groups were reported from different parts of Tripura after the results were declared on Saturday.
The Lenin statue was destroyed at Belonia town yesterday with the help of a bulldozer.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy and Director-General of Police A K Shukla, asking them to ensure peace in the state.
The CPI(M), which ruled the state for five terms in a row, has accused the BJP of attacking Left workers after the saffron party won the polls.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party or its ideology does not propagate violence but the Left does," the BJP leader asserted, a day after a five-foot fibreglass statue of the late Soviet leader was pulled down by suspected BJP workers in South Tripura's Belonia town, about 110 kilometres from capital Agartala.
Only time would tell who was responsible for razing the statue in the north-eastern state, he said.
"So many people were oppressed by the Left. Some of them must have this feeling of revenge," Singh told reporters here.
The BJP defeated the CPI(M) and is all set to form a government in the state, along with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).
The Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises added that many people had been killed under Left rule in states such as Kerala.
Mocking the BJP's rivals over their angry reaction to the statue being toppled, Singh said, "I never heard them say anything over the demolition of thousands of temples in the past, including those in Kashi (Varanasi), Mathura and Ayodhya."
Singh also stressed to a TV channel that the BJP had never embraced violence for political gains, hours after the CPI(M) accused the saffron party of unleashing an "unprecedented reign of terror" in the state following the announcement of election results.
"The BJP has never taken the support of violence. Leftists have taken the support of violence and that is the why they are feeling like that (about the BJP spreading violence)," he said.
Union minister S S Ahluwalia, too, said he did not approve of violence but it occurred whenever elections were held in communist-ruled states, irrespective of the Left's victory or defeat.
"Any election taking place in a communist-ruled state, whether they lose or win, violence will take place," he told a news channel outside Parliament.
Sporadic incidents of violence and clashes between rival political groups were reported from different parts of Tripura after the results were declared on Saturday.
The Lenin statue was destroyed at Belonia town yesterday with the help of a bulldozer.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy and Director-General of Police A K Shukla, asking them to ensure peace in the state.
The CPI(M), which ruled the state for five terms in a row, has accused the BJP of attacking Left workers after the saffron party won the polls.
