After a video that went viral showing a massive ‘Jai Shri Ram’ banner being unfurled in Palakkad municipality office, the Kerala police have arrested a few BJP workers allegedly behind it. The purported video is from Wednesday, when BJP workers in Palakkad celebrated the party retaining power in Palakkad municipality after the local body election results came out.
The case was registered after the Palakkad municipal secretary filed a complaint with the police saying that "there was an attempt to destroy communal harmony", an official said.
During the victory celebrations in front of the municipality on Wednesday evening, a few workers were seen in a purported video unfurling a giant banner with 'Jai Shri Ram' written in Malayalam from the top of the building.
The workers also unfurled another banner with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the police said.
"The special branch deputy superintendent has been asked to file a report with regard to the incident," district police chief Sujit Das S told PTI.
The controversial video had gone viral in social media. Sparking another row, BJP state spokesperson Sandeep G Varier also posted a social media post stating that ‘Palakkad city is Kerala’s Gujarat’. Many social media users had come out criticising the BJP stating that they were trying to communalise the victory in Palakkad.
It was in 2015 that BJP came to power in Palakkad municipality, the first time the party came to power in a municipality in Kerala. In the recently held local body polls, the party retained power winning a clear majority of 28 seats out of the total 52 seats. This time, BJP was also able to win one more municipality of Kerala, Pandalam municipality in Pathanamthitta district.