Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut Saturday advised Sitaram Yechury to drop his first name after the CPI(M) general secretary said Hindu epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana were replete with "violence".

Raut also asked Yechury if he would term as "violence" the action of security forces while defending the country against Pakistan-backed terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

"If Sitaram Yechury calls Ramayana and Mahabharata Hindu violence, then he should remove Sitaram from his name," Raut added.

In an article for the CPIM mouthpiece, People's Democracy, Yechury had said the BJP's decision to field Pragya Singh Thakur as its candidate from Bhopal is an expression of its efforts to consolidate the Hindutva "communal" vote bank.

Yechury also took on Narendra Modi for his claim that Hindus can never be violent, alleging that the Prime Minister erases Indian history replete with gruesome battles and wars.

"It is a fallacy to say that Hindus cannot engage in violence," Yechury had said.

Raut said, "What do you mean by saying Hindus are violent? The Ramayana and Mahabharata conveyed a central message -- victory of good over evil, truth over falsehood. Ram, Krishna and Arjuna are symbols of truth."

"If this is the meaning they interpret, then tomorrow they will say our soldiers fighting against Pakistan is 'violence'. When we defend ourselves against Pakistani acts of terrorism in Kashmir, is that violence?" he asked.

"Sitaram Yechury's intentions are clear: it is to attack Hindus and make oneself a secular person," the Sena Rajya Sabha MP alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)