ALAPPUZHA: BJP candidate of Alappuzha paying floral tributes to Punnapra Vayalar Martyrs is stoking a controversy. Before filing the nomination papers, BJP candidate Sandeep Vachaspati reached the martyrs memorial and paid floral tributes. CPM candidate of Alappuzha P P Chitharanjan said Sandeep will be faced legally and politically.

CPM said the BJP candidate damaged the gate and his entry will not be accepted at all. Their aim is to unleash violence during election time. This is an act to get news coverage. Meantime, Congress leader A A Shukkoor said this incident has proved that there is an unholy nexus between the CPM and the BJP.

However, Sandeep said that he did not trespass into the area and the Punnapra Vayalar Memorial is a public place and paid floral tributes as a citizen. Sandeep said that he has nothing to say to the Left leaders if they felt as insulting paying homage to party memorial.

‘The mass genocide in Punnapra Vayalar is the greatest betrayal in history. Communist leaders pushed ordinary workers making them believe that salt and pulses come from guns. Would a responsible leadership do that? There are no counts on how many people died there. I went there to pay homage to those ordinary people who had been deceived and died at the words of the leaders,’ he said.