RSS leader issues ₹1cr bounty on Kerala CM

BHOPAL: A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader from Madhya Pradesh has announced a ₹1 crore bounty on Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s head, holding his government responsible for the recent killing of members of right- wing organisations in the southern state.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was, however, quick to distance itself from the announcement made by its Ujjain mahanagar prachar pramukh Kundan Chandrawat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh also tried to downplay the remark Chandrawat made during a dharna staged at Ujjain on Wednesday.

The RSS office bearer said if required he would sell his properties to give the reward.

Several activists of the rightwing group and the state’s ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist were killed in the recent past as the southern state witnessed a spurt in political turf war.

Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh said Chandrawat might have made the announcement in the spur of the movement.

“People at times lose control over their words, when they are very angry”, Singh said talking to reporters and added that there was anger across the country over the way the Hindus were being killed in Kerala.

RSS’s Indore kshetra prachar pramukh Praveen Kabra said the organisation did not believe in any kind of violence.

“I don’t deny that he (Chandrawat) is an RSS office-bearer, but whatever he has said is his personal opinion. The RSS has nothing to do with it,” he added.