Kerala Governor P. Sathasivan on Sunday summoned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State police chief Loknath Behera, seeking information about the political violence in the capital following the murder of an RSS functionary on Saturday and the steps taken by the State government in this regard.
“Summoned Chief Minister and State police chief to know about action taken by State govt. on law and order issues in Trivandrum,” Mr. Sathasivam tweeted.
Earlier in the morning, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the Chief Minister on the telephone, expressing concern over the law and order situation.
“I have expressed my concern over the law and order situation in the State of Kerala. Political violence is unacceptable in a democracy,” Mr. Singh later tweeted.
In a Facebook post, the Chief Minister’s Office said, “The Chief Minister informed him that the State government would take action against the accused, whoever they may be. Rajnath Singh expressed satisfaction on this stand.”
A Raj Bhavan statement issued later said that the Governor had spoken to Mr. Singh and apprised him about the measures taken by the State government.
Police have arrested 10 persons so far in connection with the murder of the RSS worker, even as the dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by the BJP paralysed normal life across the State. However, no incidents of violence were reported during the shutdown.
The Raj Bhavan statement said the Chief Minister had apprised the Governor about the action taken by the Government and the arrests of the main culprits in the murder .
The Governor said the Chief Minister had informed him about his proposal to have a face-to-face meeting with BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan and the State RSS Chief after which he would issue a public appeal to maintain peace.
The Chief Minister further assured the Governor that law breakers will be sternly dealt with, irrespective of their political affiliation, the Raj Bhavan said.
The Governor also spoke to Mr. Rajasekharan about the political murder and the attack on the BJP state party office.
He also made a call to CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan enquiring about the reports of stone throwing incident at his son’s residence the other day.
