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

As a party, we in the BJP believe that a wide range of ideas and ideologies can coexist in India. This is exactly h… https://t.co/ClIq1fjkMP — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1520398937000

(With inputs from Agencies)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned in the strongest terms the vandalism of statues reported from states like Tripura and Tamil Nadu over the last few days.PM Modi spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the incidents of vandalism, following which the Minsitry of Home Affairs (MHA) sent an advisory to all states, directing them to take steps to prevent toppling of statues and book persons indulging in such acts under relevant provisions of law."Incidents of toppling of statues have been reported from various parts of the country. Hon’ble PM also spoke to HM in this regard and has expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents," the MHA advisory said."MHA has asked states that they must take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents. Persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of laws," it stated.Two statues of communist icon Vladimir Lenin were brought down in south Tripura and a statue of Periyar was stoned in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district.Then on Wednesday, it was reported that Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's bust had been defaced in Kolkata. Police confirmed that seven people have been arrested in the matter.The demolition of the Lenin statue at Tripura's Belonia town evoked a sharp reaction from CPM district secretary Tapas Datta, who alleged that the statue was razed by BJP workers.Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also blamed the BJP and the RSS for the incidents.BJP president Amit Shah termed the desecration of statues "extremely unfortunate" and asserted that any party member found involved in destroying a statue will face severe action."The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody’s statue," Shah said in a series of tweets.Distancing the BJP from the acts of vandalism after a few party leaders appeared to be endorsing the attacks, Shah said his organisation believes a wide range of ideas and ideologies can co-exist in India.Matters took a controversial turn with a tweet posted by Tripura Governor Tathagatha Roy."What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa", he tweeted on Tuesday.The statues were pulled down just days after the Left was defeated in the Tripura Assembly polls by the BJP and its ally IPFT, which together won a two-third majority in the House in a state where the CPM was in power for 25 years.Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Governor Tathagatha Roy and the director general of police, asking them to ensure peace till a new government was installed in the state, an official said.