BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh director general of police R K Shukla has asked senior officials to ascertain the facts that led Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to cancel a felicitation function in Bhopal and return to Kerala on Saturday evening. Vijayan, who was on his way to attend the funtion organized by the Malayali community here cancelled his visit as advised by the local police.
Now, it is also being said police had only requested Vijayan to delay his visit to the programme. Communication about the protest and request was made in Hindi that resulted in confusion.
DGP said, “Kerala CM was only asked to delay his arrival to the venue as police wanted time to clear the protesters from the venue. I have asked officers to look into the matter.”
Another senior police officer said that Kerala CM mistook the advisory. “It was the protestors who were shouting ‘Kerala CM wapas jao’ and carried placards with slogans ‘India will never forgive the murder of swayam sevaks’,” he added, pleading anonymity.
MP government already tendered an apology for the embarrassment caused to Vijayan. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to him over phone while DGP apologised in person, said sources.
Provocation for the protest by Bajrang Dal and VHP men was due to the attack on a senior RSS functionary in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday morning, allegedly by CPM workers in which he suffered grievous injuries. Kerala has been witnessing intermittent violence between CPM and BJP since the assembly elections in May.
Vijayan was in Bhopal to address the 11th national convention of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), where he compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s demonetisation drive to the dark days of the Emergency and ridiculed the central government’s propaganda on women welfare.
Bureau Report
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