Turban: Rajnath Singh puts state BJP on backfoot
Singh was presented a turban by a murder-accused youth during his Kerala visit
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-10-07 05:31 GMT
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has tried to wriggle out of the controversy created by a murder-accused youth presenting him a turban during his visit to Kerala recently. He asked reporters in Delhi on Monday how he was to know that it was a murder-accused who gave him the turban while he came out of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. His comment has put the state BJP leadership on the defensive, but party chief V. Muraleedharan has washed of his hands from the incident saying he was not present at the venue.
Mr Rajnath Singh was presented with the turban by Santhosh, the first accused in the murder case of DYFI leader Vishnu. The incident had kicked up a controversy with state BJP general secretary A. N. Radhakrishnan raising the issue which was downplayed by Mr Muraleedharan. Former BJP national secretary P. K. Krishnadas, Thiruvananthapuram district president S. Suresh and state BJP spokesperson V. V. Rajesh had accompanied Mr Rajnath Singh to the temple.
A top BJP source told DC that Mr Rajnath Singh’s comment came at a time when the state BJP leadership had thought that the issue had been forgotten.
“Though Muraleedharan was not present at the venue, he is still responsible for what happened. Rajnath Singh being the the union home minister has high security. It was one of Muraleedharan’s confidants who brought the murder-accused to the venue and even alerted the media that the picture should be carried the next day,” a BJP source told DC.