BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey has raked up a controversy, by stating that if the killing of her party workers continues in Kerala, they would gouge out the eyes of the attackers.
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, drawing strong criticism from the opposition parties.
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 further said her party has a strength of about 11 crore workers across the world and the killing of people related to the RSS and BJP in Kerala is not acceptable in a democracy.
"Our party has a strength of 11 crore members across the world... more than 300 workers in Kerala who were 20, 22 and 25 years of age were murdered. Everybody has right to present their thoughts. But as far as the politics is concerned, I believe politics should not be done like this," she pointed 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. But we believe in democracy and the party ruling in Kerala and West Bengal should also respect democracy and should not be biased on these issues," she added.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel has strongly condemned the statement made by the BJP general secretary.
"A senior woman politician should not make such kind of comment. It has exposed the real face of her party and its mindset. Any kind of violence is not justified in a democracy," Baghel said.