New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come down heavily on Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane's remarks on Kerala saying that it was ‘deeply malicious’.
Nitesh Rane , Maharashtra Fisheries and Ports Minister, courted controversy yesterday by terming the southern state a ‘mini Pakistan’, according to NDTV.
Slamming Rane’s remarks, Pinarayi Vijayan said that, ’labelling Kerala as 'mini-Pakistan', is deeply malicious & utterly condemnable’.
Taking to platform X, Pinarayi Vijayan further said: ‘Such rhetoric reflects the hate campaigns orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar against Kerala, a bastion of secularism & communal harmony. We strongly denounce this vile attack on Kerala, & call upon all democratic & secular forces to unite against Sangh Parivar's hateful propaganda.’
The 42-year-old leader, the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane, caused a political maelstrom when he said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were elected from Kerala's Wayanad because the state is ‘mini Pakistan’.
Addressing a gathering he said: ‘Kerala is mini Pakistan that is why Rahul Gandhi and his sister are elected from there. All terrorists vote for them. This is the truth, you can ask. They have become MPs after taking terrorists with them.’
Responding to Rane’s remarks, the Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe asked PM Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis whether Rane has right to continue as minister after terming a state as Pakistan.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey said after the victory of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by a huge margin, BJP leaders are worried as Prime Minister Modi won only by a lakh votes.
Clyde Crasto, spokesperson for the Sharad-Pawar-led NCP (SP), asked whether the BJP agree with Rane’s statement, adding ‘These statements can only come from people who are out of mind. It is like an insult.’