Thiruvananthapuram: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched into a tirade against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala on Sunday, saying violence in the state increases every time they come to power.
Jaitley, who was in Kerala to meet the family of an RSS worker, Rajesh, who was last week hacked to death allegedly by a gang of people.
His left hand was chopped off and there were several other injuries all over his body. The BJP had alleged that CPI(M) was behind the murder, a charge denied by the ruling party.
Jaitley came out all guns blazing against the ruling front and went on to say that "the wounds inflicted on Rajesh would have embarrassed even the terrorists".
"Rajesh had 89 wounds on his body. We will not forget this heinous act. I am here to express my solidarity on behalf of our party. The workers of Kerala are not alone, the whole nation is with you," he added.
The Union Minister wondered what would have happened, "had the political violence currently taking place in Kerala", occurred in "a BJP or an NDA-ruled state".
Jaitley lambasted the activists for maintaining reticence on the violence in Kerala, saying, "Awards would've been returned, parliament wouldn't have been allowed to function, and campaigns would've been carried out within and outside the country."
Political will and determination of the state government, Jaitley said, needed to discipline its own cadres rather than "letting them loose on political opponents".
Jaitley also insinuated that perhaps the Kerala Police was hand in glove with the administration and said that "environment of violence won't end until police behaved fairly."
"It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are brought to book," he said.
On the other hand, the CPI-M organised a sit-in protest in front of the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor P. Sathasivam, asking Jaitley to also visit the families of its cadres allegedly killed by BJP and RSS workers.
Anavoor Nagappan, the Thiruvananthapuram District Secretary of the CPI-M, told the media that those on protest included 21 family members of their activists killed in the state from 1980.
"Jaitley should not just restrict his visit to just the RSS worker's home. All these people who are sitting here have lost their near and dear ones to BJP and RSS workers," he said.
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