Hate campaign: Sangh Parivar targets Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Madhya Pradesh RSS leader’s open death threat against Pinarayi Vijayan is seen as the result of Sangh Parivar’s intense hate campaign branding the chief minister as main villain behind Kerala killings. At the protest meetings held across the country on Wednesday, the attack was directed squarely against Pinarayi Vijayan. The portrayal of Pinarayi as the brain child behind the murders of RSS workers has already created extreme hatred against the chief minister.

The manifestations of this hate campaign were witnessed during recent incidents outside Kerala particularly in Bhopal, Delhi and Mangaluru. In December, the Madhya Pradesh police advised the chief minister against attending Malayalee Association reception in Bhopal citing protests by handful of Sangh Parivar activists. The police failure to provide adequate security was widely criticised. RSS activists went to the town saying the CM was forced to keep off due to their protest. However, Pinarayi clarified that as CM he could not have defied the local police advise.

Buoyed by the Bhopal incident, RSS activists attempted to gherao Pinarayi during Delhi visit in January. However, the plan could not succeed as chief minister had left Kerala House early. The latest in the series was RSS threat to prevent the chief minister from addressing a communal harmony meet in Managlore on February 25.

Though Pinarayi had recently taken personal initiative to convene a joint meeting of CPM and RSS-BJP leaders to resolve Kannur political violence which was also widely welcomed, the Sangh Parivar continued to target him. With the RSS leaders reiterating their threat to block the chief minister outside Kerala, the CPM-RSS conflict is not going to end anytime soon.