Police complaint against Congress MLA over criticism of Kerala BJP's church visits

Palakkad (Kerala) | A complaint was lodged with the police against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil by the BJP's Palakkad leadership on Sunday, accusing him of trying to cause communal unrest in the district by his comments criticising the saffron party leaders' visits to churches in Kerala on Easter.

Mamkootathil, while speaking to a TV channel during the day, allegedly said that even if the BJP leaders do not go with any offerings to the churches on the occasion of Easter, "it would be preferable that they do not go there with knives as they did in Manipur".

"It would be nice if they do not go with weapons to the churches as they did in many other states, including Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. If they just stay home, that would be the greatest love they show to the people of the state," he allegedly said.

An officer of Palakkad Town South police station said that some BJP leaders from the party's Palakkad district unit submitted a complaint in the Deputy SP's office which was later forwarded to the Town South police station in the evening.

"We need to verify the allegations in the complaint and we also need to seek legal opinion with regard to how to proceed with the matter. Thereafter further steps, if any, will be taken," the officer said.

Mamkootathil, who is the MLA from Palakkad assembly constituency, and the BJP leadership in the district have been at loggerheads recently, ever since the Congress leader led protests against the Palakkad Municipality's decision to name a centre for skill development of disabled persons after RSS founder K B Hedgewar.