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TIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the eve of Onam, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah for insulting the Malayalee community through his message on social media, where he has said ‘Happy Vaman Jayanti’, adding that Shah must immediately apologise to the people of Kerala.

Shah posted a message on his Facebook page sending his greetings on ‘Vaman Jayanti’, where an image can be seen of Vaman, the fifth avatar of Lord Vishnu, stepping on the head of King Mahabali, the famous mythological king popular in Malayali lore.

“By eulogising Vamana and denigrating Mahabali in his Facebook post, BJP national president Amit Shah has humiliated Kerala and Malayali's national festival Onam. The belief behind Onam is of equality and egalitarianism and it is a festival celebrated by all cutting across caste, creed, religion and other barriers,” Vijayan said in a statement.,

Asserting that during Mahabalis's rule there was no evil, cheating and wrong doings and the people lived in harmony, the Chief Minister added that Malayalis see Mahabali as the symbol of equality and egalitarianism.

“By denigrating Mahabali and eulogising Vamana who had stomped Mahabali under the earth, the BJP president has buried the values of equality. The BJP president should immediately withdraw his statement and apologise to the people of Kerala,” he said.