RSS man offers Rs 1 crore for Pinarayi Vijayan head

Ujjain/New Delhi/Kochi: An RSS functionary announced on Thursday a Rs 1 crore bounty for beheading Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, sparking an uproar and drawing condemnation from the CPI(M), the Congress as well as the Sangh.

The CM dismissed the threat, saying such calls would not prevent him from travelling around, while Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) and Opposition Congress sought the arrest of the RSS functionary for his comments.

Kundan Chandravat, RSS Sah Prachar Pramukh in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, announced the reward to “avenge” the killing of its workers in Kerala, allegedly by CPI-M workers.

Kerala has been witnessing a series of political clashes between BJP-RSS cadres and those from the ruling CPI(M), especially in the northern Kannur district from where CM Vijayan hails, for a long time. Both parties have blamed each other for the cycle of violence, which has claimed several lives on both sides.

“The Kerala CM is killing our RSS workers who want to take this country forward. I will pay Rs 1 crore to anyone who beheads him… even if I have to sell my house to pay for it,” he was seen saying in a video, which went viral.

“300 innocent people (belonging to RSS) have been killed but the Kerala CM has turned a blind eye to it,” he claimed at the function.

“Is there no courage in the blood of Hindus?,” he asked.

RSS was quick to distance itself from the remarks. “The RSS strongly condemns such statements.

The Sangh does not believe in violence. But we will continue to protest against attacks on our workers in Kerala in a democratic and peaceful manner,” the organisation’s national Sah Prachar Pramukh J. Nandakumar said in Delhi. He said he does not know who Chandravat is.

In Kochi, CM Vijayan told reporters, “Sangh Parivar has chopped off heads of many. That won’t prevent us from travelling around.”

Later in a Facebook post, he said he rejected the threat with “contempt”. “I dismiss with contempt the ‘kolaveli’ (murder call) of RSS,” he said.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted that Mr Chandravat’s comments “revealed the true colours of RSS as a terrorist outfit”.

Mr Yechury also questioned the “silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government over the remarks. “The silence of the government is an endorsement that emboldens RSS to issue such obnoxious threats,” the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.