With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trying to keep Kerala in national focus with its blitzkrieg over alleged Communist Party of India (Marxist) violence in the State, the CPI(M) leadership has taken to the social media in a big way to poke fun at BJP leaders and ‘put matters in perspective’ by reeling out figures of lives lost on both sides.
Leading the counter offensive against BJP president Amit Shah’s opening salvo against the State’s ruling party on Tuesday, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “The BJP National President’s statements about Kerala epitomise the Hindi saying “Ulta Chor Kotwal ko daante” (thief rebukes the police officer).” He continued, “Ever since the election results came for Kerala in May 2016, BJP/RSS have started this spree of violence against CPI(M) cadres... Shri Amit Shah should attend to the trouble his party is causing to citizens in BJP-ruled States. He shouldn’t try and create problems in Kerala”.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who on Wednesday sought to question Kerala’s law and order and development track record, was in for a much more sober, yet equally searing retort, with a veiled reference to the neo-natal fatalities at the Gorakhpur medical college hospital. “We invite UP CM Yogi to visit Kerala hospitals to learn how to run Hospitals effectively!,” said one of the key tweets ahead of his visit, followed by a retweet from Mr. Yechury, “He can bring other BJP leaders and CMs along who can learn from a state which has always rejected BJP”.
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‘At receiving end’
The CPI(M) has also put up a ‘Fact Sheet on RSS/BJP Violence in Kerala’ on Twitter, stating that in Kerala, it is the CPI(M) and other constituents of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) that have been at the receiving end of the ‘murderous attacks’ mounted by the RSS and its outfits.
‘From 2000 to 2017, Kerala police figures show that 85 CPI(M) workers and 65 RSS workers were killed,’ the fact sheet says.
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