THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP state president K Surendran accused Shashi Tharoor of making pro-Israel comments during a Muslim League rally in front of voters. He claimed that Tharoor's remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict were causing communal tensions in Kerala.

Surendran also suggested that the League and DYFI were indirectly taking the place of the Popular Front by adopting similar positions. He emphasized that Tharoor was not being deceptive and had made these statements in front of Thiruvananthapuram voters. He questioned the intelligence of those who couldn't grasp this, stating that everything Tharoor had said was a treacherous stance. Surendran saw no reason to support Tharoor's position.

He noted that a conference for Hamas had taken place and accused the League and DYFI of essentially replacing the PFI. Tharoor, according to Surendran, was well aware of the consequences of participating in such activities. He criticized this as a tactic Tharoor regularly employed.

Surendran pointed out that seditious slogans had been raised during a meeting in Kozhikode led by the League. Throughout the conference, the League seemed to be portraying Hamas as an opposition to Israel. MLA and Muslim League leader MK Munir even likened Hamas to freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh. Surendran considered this a destructive stance describing it as a manipulative political strategy to exploit religious divisions for electoral gain in Kerala.

Simultaneously, MP Shashi Tharoor clarified his reference to Hamas as a terrorist organization. He stated, ‘No one should misinterpret my speech at the Kozhikode beach Muslim League event as being pro-Israel. I stand with the Palestinian people. It's unfair to focus on just one sentence from my speech.’