Palakkad: The Congress on Saturday filed a complaint against the BJP’s Palakkad district president over his allegedly threatening remarks against MLA Rahul Mamkootathil a day ago.
The alleged threats by the BJP’s district president, Prasanth Siva, came in the wake of a row over naming a skill development centre for differently-abled persons after RSS founder K B Hedgewar.
The Congress, Youth Congress (YC), and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) activists disrupted the skill development centre’s foundation stone-laying ceremony on Friday, which was organised by the BJP-ruled Palakkad municipality.
Following the disruption, Sivan said on the same day that Palakkad MLA Mamkootathil would not be allowed to set foot in the district. It is against this remark that the Congress has lodged a complaint with the police, a party source said.
Mamkootathil responded that as long as he has legs, he will stand firmly on them to speak against the RSS. “If they cut off my legs, I will use my remaining body to speak against the RSS. They will have to cut off my tongue to stop me from speaking. Even then, I will keep working against the RSS. So, I am not worried by such threats.”
“I am a people’s representative elected by the public, unlike a BJP district president. So, I am curious to know what action Kerala Police will take against such persons who are making these threats,” the MLA said.
The DYFI, Congress, and YC activists who disrupted the stone-laying event had said they were not against the project but opposed its being named after an RSS founder.
The Palakkad municipality’s chairperson and vice-chairperson had questioned what was in a name and said the project was more important.
Later, the same day, Mamkootathil led a party protest against the naming of the skill development centre after Hedgewar and also remarked that Congress would oppose the initiative by carrying out strong agitations.
He also claimed that no proposal to name the project after Hedgewar was submitted to the municipal council, and said legal recourse would also be taken against it.