Thiruvananthapuram: Police in Kerala have filed a case against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V. Muraleedharan, for provocative sloganeering during the party’s march in Kerala.
Muraleedharan is a former state president of the BJP.
The incident happened during BJP’s ongoing Jana Raksha (save the people) march, directed against the ruling Communist Party of India Marxist government.
The sloganeering happened when the BJP cadres were marching from Panur to Kuthuparamba on Friday.
It was Muraleedharan himself who took the initiative to share the proceedings of the march live on social media, including the offensive slogans, prompting the Kuthuparamba police to take notice and register a case. Police also received a formal complaint about the incident.
He faces charges including creating an atmosphere for political confrontation and threatening an individual. The offensive sloganeering was primarily against CPM Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan, with the cadres shouting that Jayarajan’s limbs would be chopped.
The BJP march is being led by the party state president, Kummanam Rajasekharan. Muraleedharan is the convener of the march.
Responding to the issue of a case being registered against him, Muraleedharan said he was “not afraid of a false case by the CPM”. He said he was “not afraid to go to jail” and that such cases were nothing new for him.
The BJP march had lost some shine as the party national president, Amit Shah had to rush back to Delhi, cancelling plans to join the march.