Ahead of the assembly elections in Kerala, senior BJP leader Shobha Surendran and party workers were physically attacked by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers during an election rally at Thiruvananthapuram.
According to reports, on Friday, the convoy of the BJP leader Shobha Surendran was attacked by the CPM workers, leaving several injured. Shobha Surendran is the BJP candidate from the Kazhakoottam assembly constituency in the Thiruvananthapuram district.
The CPM workers recklessly ran motorbikes in an attempt to stop the convoy and BJP workers. The attackers allegedly belonged to the far-left Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the CPM youth wing.
After the attack, the DYFI members fled from the spot and took shelter inside the CPM booth office. The BJP leaders protested outside the CPM booth office and demanded strong action against the attackers. However, the Kerala police did not take any action against the CPM workers.
“The tactics adopted by the CPM in Attingal during the Lok Sabha election are now being repeated in Kazhakkoottam. Kadakampally has earlier stated that he respects women. But with the attack, the insincerity of the minister’s statement stands exposed,” Surendran told reporters.
As BJP is making inroads in Kerala, both factions – Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the incumbent left-coalition Left Democratic Front (LDF) are facing the heat, thus leading to a repeated instance of political violence in the state. It is worth mentioning that Islamists and far-left groups have killed several RSS and BJP workers in Kerala in the last few years after the saffron party began to gain prominence in state politics.
The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly polls is scheduled to be held on April 6 to elect 140 MLAs. The results will be announced on May 2.