BJP’s Kerala president K Surendran on Wednesday threatened journalists, issuing a stern warning that ‘no journalist who tried to insult the BJP will be spared.’ He added that ‘those who gave fake news and spread it, will be properly dealt with.’
“No journalist who tried to insult our party and movement would be spared. Those who tried to defame the party and gave fake news would be dealt with accordingly,” Surendran warned.
“In the last three-four days, the media has been trying to tarnish the image of a great political party in the guise of Palakkad by-election results. We will not approve any such attempt,” he said, while speaking to media in Pathanamthitta.
“The party will not spare even a single man who did injustice to the party and will directly deal with such people. No doubt about it,” he added.
Surendran’s outburst against the media persons came amid reports in the media about the infighting in the state BJP which reportedly led to the defeat of party candidate C Krishna Kumar in Palakkad following erosion of votes in party strongholds.
Although Surendran offered to resign, accepting responsibility for the defeat, the BJP central leadership asked him to continue. Subsequently, Surendran appeared to go berserk. Initially, he ridiculed journalists for reporting the party’s internal discord.
However, by Wednesday, he targeted the media persons, issuing an open threat. Surendran is also disturbed by the Congress move to bring Palakkad Municipal chairaman and 17 councillors to the party fold.