Arun Lakshman By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Resentment is brewing among RSS, BJP workers of Kannur after Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Nagpur, Nitin Gadkari and his extended family had lunch at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence on June 11. The Union Minister was on a holiday with his family in Kerala.

The RSS and the BJP had been campaigning vociferously against the Chief Minister and projecting him as the face of the political violence in Kannur district.

Moreover, the parivar has been accusing Pinarayi of the murder of RSS leader Vadikkal Ramakrishnan of Thalassery in 1969, which is believed to be the first political murder in Kannur.

The Chief Minister too has spoken against the RSS and BJP several times.

Ramesh Babu an RSS worker from Thalassery, while speaking to Express over telephone, said: “Many of our workers and leaders were brutally killed or maimed for life by CPM men. What was the need for a person like Nitin Gadkari who was also the party president to have a personal relationship with Pinarayi Vijayan and dine at his residence along with his family”.

He adds, “BJP and RSS are struggling for survival in these parts of the world and we feel very sad that our leader attended lunch at Pinarayi’s house”.

This bonhomie between Pinarayi and Gadkari has not gone down well with the party and the sangh cadres.

A senior leader of the BJP from Kannur district said: “Minister may have several reasons to justify the decision but the cadres feel betrayed. We lost Panniyanoor Chandran, K T Jayakrishnan, E Manoj and several of our top leaders to the CPM killer squads and still our minister is dining at the place of none other than Pinarayi Vijayan who is considered as the epitome of violence by the RSS, BJP cadres.”

With the annual pracharak baitak of the RSS scheduled in the last week of this month, the Union minister’s lunch will be a point of discussion as Gadkari has always been considered very close to the RSS.

Hindu Aikya Vedi Kannur district president and former leader of the BMS and RSS ,V Manivarnan told Express, “It was unfortunate for a leader like Nitin Gadkari to have lunch at Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence. The minister may not be aware of the campaign by the sangh and BJP against Vijayan on political killings in Kannur. Kerala leaders should have briefed him about this”.