I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be inv… https://t.co/3NN0BlY6yp — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1520398989000

The BJP will always remain committed to ideals of openness and constructive politics through which we can positivel… https://t.co/6r4myX8uMN — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1520398995000

The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody’s statue. — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1520398963000

Periyar's statue targeted in TN

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NEW DELHI: The razing of Communist hero Lenin 's statue in Tripura on Monday - an act condoned by some BJP leaders - appears to have sparked a wave of similar actions across the country by BJP workers. But backlash has been swift and retaliatory vandalism by opposition supporters has also begun, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to condemn all such acts of destruction.In Vellore, a BJP town secretary and some of his relatives stoned a statue of anti-caste icon Periyar yesterday, after senior party leader H Raja tweeted advocating the destruction of his statues. Unconfirmed reports say that another statue of Lenin's has been targeted, again in Tripura, by persons unknown. In West Bengal, a BJP icon was the target, as seven people - whose party affiliation is not yet known - vandalised a bust of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Jan Sangh, a party from which the BJP emerged. Seemingly in retaliation, unidentified men hurled two kerosene bombs on the BJP district office in Coimbatore in the early hours today.Police in various parts of India now fear a rise in political violence; Tripura is already on the boil. Not only has PM Modi stepped in to condemn the wanton destruction, the Centre too today issued an advisory to states to take steps to prevent more such incidents, and to arrest those indulging in such acts. The atmosphere is fraught in Coimbatore and neighbouring areas following the stoning of Periyar's statue. Police have been deployed at the locations of at least 27 Periyar statues across Chennai, and in other parts of the state.Amit Shah termed the desecration of communist icon Lenin's statues in Tripura and Periyar's statue in Tamil Nadu as "extremely unfortunate" and asserted that any party member found involved in destroying a statue will face severe action.Left parties today held marches on the streets of Kolkata protesting the razing of Lenin's statue in Tripura. In Tamil Nadu, DMK workers today protested the incendiary tweet by the BJP's Raja, who later deleted his tweet advocating the destruction of Periyar's statues. The BJP worker in Vellore who stoned Periyar's statue was expelled today by the party. Also today, the BJP - many of whose leaders spoke approvingly of the razing of Lenin's statue - condemned such acts vandalism, after party icon Mukherjee's statue was defaced in Bengal.The vandalising of Periyar's statue occurred hours after Raja, a senior BJP leader tweeted the following, in Tamil: “Who is Lenin and what is the connection between Lenin and India? What connection has India with communists? Lenin's statue has been removed in Tripura. Today it is Lenin's statue in Tripura, tomorrow it will be the statue of caste fanatic EVR Ramasamy (Periyar).”The tweet was referring to a Lenin statue in Tripura that was on Monday razed by bulldozer-armed hooligans wearing saffron shirts. They were celebrating the victory of the BJP in Assembly elections in the state. The saffron party routed the CPM, which had ruled Tripura for 25 years.Tripura's governor Tathagata Roy and BJP MP Subramanian Swamy condoned the action of the hooligans. Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav also tweeted his approval of the dislodging of the statue of the Communist revolutionary hero."Lenin is a foreigner and in a way, a terrorist, there shouldn't be a statue of this sort of person in our country? They are welcome to put that statue inside the Communist Party headquarters and worship it if they so wish," said Swamy yesterday to ANI.Today, however, the BJP's West Bengal unit condemned the defacing of BJP icon Mukerjee's statue."BJP West Bengal condemns barbaric act of vandalising statue of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Bharat Keshri's founder Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee at Keoratola Mohasoshan, Kolkata. We demand very strong action against culprits," said the BJP's Sayantan Basu.