Kerala: Arun Jaitley meets, consoles grieving kin of slain RSS worker

Thiruvananthapuram: Union minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday met family members of slain Rastriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) functionary Rajesh, a victim of political violence in Kerala, at his house in Sreekaryam near Thiruvananthapuram.

During the visit, Jaitley spoke with the three-year old son of Rajesh and his aged parents.

Jaitley's visit is widely seen as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring to national focus the issue of alleged increasing attacks on party cadres by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M).

State BJP leaders, including president Kummanam Rajasekharan, accompanied the Union Finance minister.

They explained to Jaitley the concern expressed by family members, including the widow of 34-year old Rajesh, who was hacked to death on July 29 by a gang led by an alleged historysheeter in Thiruvananthapuram.

The BJP has alleged that CPI-M activists were behind the gruesome murder, a charge denied by the ruling party.

BJP members recently raised the issue of political violence in the state in Parliament alleging that "Kerala has become a killing field."

Earlier, Jaitley arrived in Thiruvananthapuram by a special aircraft for an on-the-spot account of the political situation.

He was also likely to submit a report to the Central government, party sources said.

His visit comes in the backdrop of RSS leadership even favouring imposition of President's Rule in the state on the ground that law and order situation had collapsed under the LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan.

Jaitley is also slated to visit some of the BJP workers whose houses were attacked allegedly by CPI-M in Thiruvananthapuram in recent days.

State Governor P Sathasivam had on July 30 summoned Chief Minister Vijayan and state police chief Loknath Behra to ascertain the action taken in the backdrop of the murder of Rajesh and other violent incidents. They had apprised him of the arrests made in the murder case.

The CPI-M alleged that RSS-BJP was spreading a false propaganda on political violence.

To counter the BJP, the CPI-M on Sunday organised a dharna of relatives of 21 party workers allegedly killed by RSS-BJP activists in the district and also demanded Jaitley visit them also.

CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan alleged that political violence had increased in the state after the visit of BJP President Amit Shah in early June.

The BJP was implementing "Amit Shah's plan" in the state by allegedly attacking party strongholds, Balakrishnan charged.

Incidentally, the Chief Minister has convened an all-party meeting this evening.

The state had been witnessing a cycle of violence involving BJP-RSS and CPI-M workers with the capital district rocked by incidents of attacks on houses of rival partymen.