Following vandalism of Periyar, Lenin statues, BJP leader H Raja forced to tender apology for FB post; PM Narendra Modi expresses displeasure

CHENNAI: The BJP high command has reportedly pulled up its leader H Raja for his Facebook post claiming that Dravidian leader Periyar's statue too would be toppled from public places in Tamil Nadu.

This morning, Raja tendered an apology for the post but blamed it on the person who manages his FB account for without his consent.

“The post regarding the Periyar statue was posted without my consent. So, later, I removed the post. We should counter views with views and not with violence.  I don't have any intention to hurt the feelings of anyone. If my post had hurt anyone, I express my whole hearted regret. Further, damaging the statue of Periyar is not acceptable to us,” Raja said in his FB post today.

Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is in charge of Tamil Nadu condemned Raja for making such statements.

Of course, he did not mention the name of Raja. Muralidhar Rao, in his twitter post, said “The BJP does not subscribe to any kind of provoking or disrespectful statements and actions of vandalism towards leaders like Periyar. We condemn outrightly those people who are indulging in such actions.”

BJP does not subscribe to any kind of provoking or disrespectful statements and actions of vandalism towards leaders like Periyar. We condemn outrightly those people who are indulging in such actions.

— P Muralidhar Rao (@PMuralidharRao) March 7, 2018

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly taken a serious note on toppling of communist leader Lenin's statues in Tripura and conveyed his displeasure to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The party's president Amit Shah tweeted that "I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any status will face severe action from the party."

VIEW GALLERY: Rare photos of Dravida Kazhagam founder Periyar

The Tamil Nadu unit president Tamilisai said two BJP functionaries who were arrested for damaging Periyar's statue in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu has been expelled from the party.

Meanwhile, in an advisory to all states and union territories, the Home Ministry said incidents of the toppling of statues have been reported from certain parts of the country and it has taken serious note of such incidents of vandalism.

"The MHA has asked the states that they must take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents," it said. The ministry said the state governments were told that persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law.