Kerala’s CPI(M) and Congress on Sunday took strong objection to the alleged denial of permission by the Madhya Pradesh Police to Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for attending a felicitation programme in Bhopal on Saturday evening citing a Sangh Pariwar demonstration as reason even as the State BJP described as cheap Pinarayi’s criticisms against it and RSS.
Stating that the media reports on the development in Bhopal were true, Pinarayi said on Sunday that it reflected the culture of the RSS. “There is an issue of culture in this. When the tension in Kannur was at its peak, Rajnath Singh had visited a village – which some of you call Marxist party village – in Thalassery. Nobody had created any problem then,” he said in Kochi.
According to the Chief Minister, when he was preparing to leave for the programme venue in Bhopal on Saturday evening, the Madhya Pradesh police told him that he should not attend it as a protest against him was being held near there by the RSS and Bajrang Dal. “The police said that they were advising me as per instructions from the Superintendent of Police,” he said.
Following this, he decided not to attend the event, he said. When he was reminded that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, DGP and others had expressed regrets to him, he asked, “What is the use of an apology after preventing (me) from attending the programmeIJ” The event was organised by several associations of Keralites in Bhopal.
Pinarayi charged that the Bhopal Police had blocked him from going to the venue of the event with the knowledge of the Madhya Pradesh Government. The MP Government had been reluctant to take appropriate action because RSS men had created the situation, he said, adding that the police had sent him back instead of taking action against the protestors.
A CPI(M) statement alleged that the incident in Bhopal was a violation of democracy perpetrated with the knowledge of the BJP’s Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh, the Centre and the BJP leadership. Terming it as an example of the “fascist methods” of the RSS, the party said it was a violation of the rule of law, Constitution and principles of federalism.
According to State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, India under the BJP-led rule had transformed into a land where even a State Chief Minister had no freedom of opinion or travel. The Madhya Pradesh Government should have fulfilled its Constitutional duty, it said, adding that the Prime Minister should offer an explanation.
While Kerala’s Congress president VM Sudheeran termed the incident as condemnable, the party’s former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy described it as unfortunate. No Chief Minister should ever face such an experience, Chandy said. The matter brought shame not to Kerala but to the Madhya Pradesh Government, he added.
Stating that Pinarayi’s attack against the RSS and BJP after dropping the programme in Bhopal by himself was cheap, Kerala’s BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan said that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and DGP had expressed regrets to him because they were people who kept high cultural values.
“The Kerala CPI(M)’s working style of physically eliminating political adversaries does not exist in any other State. Even then, Pinarayi is ridiculing the people of an entire State in the name of a simple protest demonstration. As he is the one who took the decision not to attend the event, there is no justification for his attack on others,” Kummanam said.
At the same time, reports quoted Raman Singh Sikarwar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bhopal, as saying, “We have never said we won’t provide security (to Pinarayi). We were ready to take him to the venue but we had just asked him to delay the visit in order to avoid an unpleasant situation. However, he decided not to visit the venue.”