Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar says Kerala is tolerant of radical elements, criticizes CM Vijayan – Firstpost

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday asserted that Kerala, under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has shown tolerance towards radical elements and radicalization.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Chandrasekhar hit back at the CM who a day ago slammed the BJP leader for his social media posts criticizing Vijayan over the blasts during of a religious gathering at Kalamassery near here.

Terming the BJP leader’s posts as his communal stand, Vijayan, without naming Chandrasekhar, sought to know on what basis of information the Union minister had made such remarks against him and how a person holding a post of responsibility could make such statements during the investigation. happened.

Vijayan, in a brief press conference held at the Secretariat Complex in Thiruvananthapuram, had asserted that the BJP leader’s statements were a reflection of absolute communal vision.

Responding to the CM’s remarks, Chandrasekhar clarified that he did not mention any community in his post on social media platform X.

“I had spoken about Hamas and it was almost as if the CM was trying to equate Hamas with the broader Muslim brothers and sisters of our state and our country,” he said.

Chandrasekhar, on Sunday after the news of the blasts came out, had posted on

“Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, while in Kerala terrorist Hamas’ open calls for Jihad provoke attacks and bombings against innocent Christians. »

The Union minister said his post came “in the context where the Hamas leader had the opportunity, without intervention from the Kerala government or police, to address a large gathering of young people and to incite them to radicalism.”

“What I have said, what I have always said and what our party has always said is that under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala has shown more and more tolerance towards radical elements and radicalization,” Chandrasekhar said.

He further alleged that the Congress and the Left in Kerala have a history of appeasing radical elements in the state.

The Union MoS claimed that both were turning a blind eye to growing radicalism in the southern state.

The explosions occurred on Sunday at a convention center in Kalamassery, near Kochi, which was hosting a prayer meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses – a Christian religious group that originated in the United States in the 19th century.

Initially, one woman died and 60 others were injured, six of them seriously, in the explosions.

Subsequently, one of the six seriously injured people – a 53-year-old woman – succumbed to her injuries.

As of Monday morning, the death toll rose to three with the death of a 12-year-old girl who suffered 95 percent burns during the incident.