The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), which is the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M) (Communist Party of India (Marxist)), on Friday, September 16, lashed out at the Congress party for allegedly allowing Nikhil Paily, prime accused in the Dheeraj Rajendran murder case, to be a part of its ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra. DYFI state Secretary VK Sanoj said that the Congress allowed Nikhil to be a part of the foot march to insult the family of 21-year old Dheeraj, who was stabbed to death on January 10 at the Idukki Engineering College allegedly by KSU (Kerala Students Union) activists including Nikhil.
"The Congress party has been insulting the family of Dheeraj for some time. The first accused in the Dheeraj murder case Nikhil Paily, who is currently on bail was made part of the foot march is another way of insulting Dheeraj's family," Sanoj said in a statement. He asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whether the foot march was to generate acceptance for the murder accused.
"The Congress leadership and Rahul Gandhi should explain what message they were trying to send out by allowing a criminal, who murdered a student activist, to become a part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra," the DYFI said. Nikhil joined the foot march recently and had shared his pictures during the Yatra on social media.
Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress state secretary Bindhu Chandra V had also shared a picture of hers with Paily as part of the Yatra. However, the Congress leadership was yet to react to the criticism by DYFI.
Dheeraj Rajendran, an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI), was stabbed to death on January 10 at Idukki Engineering college allegedly by KSU activists. Nikhil, a district-level leader of the Youth Congress and Jerin Jijo were arrested for stabbing Dheeraj, a student of the college, to death. Two other students, Abjijith and Amal, were also seriously injured in the attack. In the FIR, the police mentioned that the murder took place due to political rivalry.