Even as a special team of the Kerala police is probing the serial blasts at a convention centre in Kochi, a war of words has erupted between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar over the incident.
Speaking to reporters in Kochi on Monday, Vijayan condemned Chandrasekhar’s remarks on the blasts and accused him of spreading venom in the society. It was unbecoming for a Union minister to make such remarks, he said.
It all started on Sunday when the BJP leader criticised the chief minister for attending a pro-Palestine protest in Delhi when there had been a blast in his state.
"Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians," he said on X, in an apparent reference to the virtual participation of former Hamas chief Khaled Mashal in a solidarity rally in Malappuram a day ago.
Reacting to the post, Vijayan said the Union minister’s statement was based on his party’s communal agenda, and that Kerala had always stood against communalism.
"Those who're poisonous will keep spitting poison...one of the Union minister made a statement that I am doing appeasement politics and protesting against Israel. He is a minister and he should give some minimum respect to the investigating agencies. The probe is underway. In such a serious incident, at such an early stage, they are making such statements targeting a few set of people," the chief minister said.
Chandrasekhar, who visited those injured in the blasts at a hospital in Kochi on Monday, hit back at Vijayan and even called him a liar.
"To accuse me of being communal, or to accuse our party of doing anything other than looking after the best interest of every Indian, is to be a liar. He (Pinarayi Vijayan) is a liar...If not having links with the SDPI, PFI and Hamas is the qualification for being called communal, I am proud to say that nobody in BJP has any linkages with SDPI, PFI and Hamas," the Union minister was quoted as saying by ANI.
Referring to the Kozhikode train burning incident and the arrest of an ISIS sympathiser, Chandrasekhar said under Vijayan’s regime, Kerala has shown increased tolerance towards radical elements.
“There is a history of appeasement of radical elements by both the Congress and the Left in Kerala," he said.
His remarks again elicited a strong response from the chief minister who accused the BJP minister of spreading venom in society.
While speaking to reporters at Kochi airport on Monday afternoon, Vijayan alleged that Chandrasekhar and “his friends " were trying to find ways to lodge cases against those who are showing support for Palestine.
"They are trying to implicate them (Palestine supporters) in cases. That will not happen in Kerala," the CM said.
Three persons—two women and a child—died and over 50 others were injured as three explosions rocked the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kalamassery, a northern suburb of the port city, on Sunday morning.
Hours after the explosions, a 48-year-old man, identified as Dominic Martin, surrendered at Kodakara police station in neighbouring Thrissur district, claiming responsibility for the blasts.
Police are examining his claims and the pieces of evidence he reportedly handed over to the investigators.