After #PoMoneModi, #AlavalathiShaji and #KnappanYogi, a new viral hashtag from Kerala has emerged on Twitter - #GougeDa.
#GougeDa is the response from Keralite netizens, who have not taken kindly to BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey's recent comments about "gouging out the eyes" of its enemies.
Also read: Will gouge out eyes of Kerala's CPM workers: BJP leader Saroj Pandey
Keyboard warriors hailing from the state are putting up photographs of themselves or popular actors wearing sunglasses on both Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #GougeDa - basically telling off Pandey.
Several non-Keralites also joined in on the act.
I am a NRI-Guju but in solidarity with my Malyali Friends I am a Malyali today
cc: pic.twitter.com/elQqjuCqSC
— Sanju B Shah (@SanjuShah66)
Although I'm not Malayali but posting my pic to protest BJP pic.twitter.com/EnQgJJLEJI
— Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02)I’m a Kannadiga but standing with my South Indian brothers from Kerala. pic.twitter.com/UpKTjQ2MsZ
— Vinay (@iamvinays)Meanwhile, actor Alencier Ley Lopez, known for his performances in Maheshinte Prathikaaram and Thondi Muthalum Driksakshiyum, protested in his own way by approaching a police station in Kollam and demanding protection for his eyes from Pandey.
Finest Malayalam Actor Alanseer files a police compliant in response to BJP Leader Saroj Pandey’s threat pic.twitter.com/c0yPOVLLJH
— Arun Janardhanan (@arunjei)Pandey was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme in Kumhari area of Chhattisgarh's Durg district on Monday when she made the controversial comment, in connection with the RSS-CPM rivalry in Kerala.
Referring to the Kerala BJP's ongoing 'jana raksha yatra' against alleged CPM violence, Pandey said "Our national president has taken out a march because in the future, if they (attackers) continue to show eyes to our workers, we will gouge them out."
Pandey also threatened that the BJP could dismiss the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala. "We have government (at the Centre) and based on our numbers (in Lok Sabha), we can dismiss such (state) governments," she added.