Quit if scared of CM, BJP to Governor P Sathasivam

Thiruvananthapuram: The state leadership of the BJP on Sunday stepped up its attack on Governor P. Sathasivam, asking him to go if he was scared of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Mincing no words, party’s state general secretary Sobha Surendran said in New Delhi that the Governor should to show some respect to the post he holds. “If the Governor’s plan is to bow his head before the Chief Minister and say that he would take no action, then it is better for him to quit,” Ms Surendran said while inaugurating the party’s protest in front of Kerala House in New Delhi against the murder of RSS worker Choorakkad Biju in Kannur on Friday.

“If you have some respect for your chair and a sense of justice, do what you have to do for us and complete it,” she said. “We, on behalf of all people of Kerala, inform this to the honourable governor,” she said.

Delhi Yuva Morcha chief Sunil Yadav said if the violence continued unabated, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan would not be allowed to set foot in New Delhi.

Another general secretary M. T. Ramesh had on Saturday taken a dig at the governor saying the party needed no intermediary in the form of the governor to hand over a petition to the chief minister. He posted his response on Facebook after a three-member delegation led by O. Rajagopal, MLA, gave a petition to the Governor demanding that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) be clamped in Kannur. That he chose to forward it to the chief minister instead of seeking a report on the law and order situation from the chief minister for the Union government did not go down well with the BJP leaders.

“In the last 11.5 months, we have called on the Governor at least thrice on the Kannur political violence,” said a senior party leader. “We want the government to act and we understand Mr Vijayan has lost the game against the Kannur CPM lobby. We feel that party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan are giving a hard time for him, making him appear weak before the public.”