 "Kerala CM condemns Maharashtra minister Rane's 'mini Pakistan' remark")
The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday vehemently criticised Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane for calling Kerala a "mini Pakistan" and said his remarks were highly "provocative and condemnable".
The Sangh Parivar's basic approach towards Kerala is exposed through the words of the Maharashtra minister, the CM said in a statement.
The Sangh Parivar believes that they can isolate a place that's difficult for them to influence by alienating and spreading hate campaigns and these statements came as part of that, he said.
A minister, who made the hate statement, does not deserve to continue in the position, Vijayan said.
"It is surprising that the leadership of the country's ruling party is yet to react to the minister's act of serious breach of oath, which amounted to insulting the country's Constitution," he added.
Later in a post on social media X, the Chief Minister termed the Maharashtra minister's comment as "deeply malicious & utterly condemnable".
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Such rhetoric reflects the hate campaigns orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar against Kerala, a bastion of secularism and communal harmony, CM said.
"We strongly denounce this vile attack on Kerala, & call upon all democratic & secular forces to unite against Sangh Parivar's hateful propaganda," Vijayan said.
Rane termed Kerala a "mini Pakistan" and claimed that "all terrorists vote for Gandhis," referring to the election victories of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
Facing sharp criticism from opposition parties for his comments, the BJP minister on Monday maintained that Kerala is very much a part of India, and he is merely raising issues of religious conversion of Hindus and "love jihad" in the southern state.
Strongly condemning Rane's statement, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi respond to the controversial remarks made by the Maharashtra minister.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)