Assailants attempt to attack Union Minister V Muraleedharan's vehicle tour, hurl verbal abuse at minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been alleged that a group of men attempted to attack the vehicle tour of Union Minister V Muraleedharan, the NDA candidate in the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday. The incident took place at around 7.15 pm yesterday at Kottiyam Mukku in the Pallikal Grama Panchayat. A three-member gang entered the motorcade on a bike and attempted to assault the minister. With this, the vehicle tour was stopped for half an hour. The tour later resumed after the Pallikal police reached the spot.

According to BJP workers, after entering the motorcade, the three-member gang verbally assaulted Minister V Muraleedharan and others accompanying him and attempted to attack them. Following this, Muraleedharan stopped the vehicle tour temporarily and asked the party workers to exercise restraint. He then informed the Pallikal police about the matter. The photos and the videos of the assailants recorded on the phones of the BJP workers have been handed over to the police. The BJP workers are claiming that the gang also attempted to create a conflict by waving the CPM flag at Kallarakonam junction. The BJP leaders said that they would file a complaint to the Election Commission regarding the incident.

Speaking to the media, V Muraleedharan said that the efforts to disrupt NDA's election campaign were condemnable. He also said that the police should create an opportunity for the party to campaign smoothly and fearlessly.

"During the time of the previous Lok Sabha elections, an attempt was made to attack NDA candidate Sobha Surendran in Pallikal. Now, a gang approached the campaign vehicle, hurled verbal abuses and tried to provoke BJP workers in the same panchayat," V Muraleedharan said.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran said that the CPM's attack on V Muraleedharan's vehicle procession was objectionable. In his statement, he accused the CPM of unleashing violence due to the fear of failure. He demanded a thorough investigation into the incident.