By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday demanded a judicial probe into a demonstration that turned violent outside the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) headquarters here.
Senior BJP leaders M. Venkaiah Naidu and Vijay Kumar Malhotra blamed the CPI-M leaders for the communist party workers hurling stones at BJP activists.
The turf war between the CPI-M and the BJP in Kerala reached the national capital Sunday as a 250-strong mob attacked the CPI-M office, injuring 10 communist party members and eight policemen.
The attack took place when top CPI-M leaders, including party general secretary Prakash Karat and politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, were in the party’s Central Committee meeting at the A.K. Gopalan Bhawan on the Bhai Mahaveer Singh Marg.
Malhotra said, “The FIR (first information report) lodged by the BJP and Hindu Manch against the CPI-M has not been registered by the police. At least seven or eight of our men were injured, of whom three are still in the hospital. The police are refusing to register our complaint because of pressure from CPI-M and because they (the government) are at the mercy of the communists.”
Naidu said: “We demand a judicial enquiry on who threw the stones.” But he added a little later, “Nobody is happy with what happened and nobody is justifying it.”
“I know the home ministry is helpless. Let parliament decide to send an all-party delegation to Kerala and see things for themselves and then come here and debate,” he added.