Kerala has seen crisis, religious hate, violence and other conundrums. However, unlike in other parts of the country, all this melange of ruckus did little to break the harmony in the state. Kerala still remains a harmonious abode that even made many north Indians shift to the state in search of labour and modest living. No political party leaders have hitherto demanded that migrant citizens return to their hometowns.

Maharashtra once witnessed such hate talks spearheaded by Shiv Sena, which saw the native people taking up arms against Bihar natives in the state. Hitherto, it was unknown for BJP leaders in the state to adopt such tendencies. As an exception to that, Maharashtra's BJP Minister Nitesh Rane insulted Kerala by calling it 'Mini Pakistan'.

In a public meeting held in Pune, Rane took a jibe at Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s victory from Wayanad. He said it was only because of minority consolidation that the congress leaders won from the place. Rane also called the people who helped Rahul and Priyanka win elections as terrorists. Rane is a known rabble-rouser and won't quiver to controversies.

Earlier, the Maharashtra Police had asked the organizers of the event to ensure that Rane does not make provocative statements. Despite the warning, Rane found his old charm in incendiary speech and couldn’t resist. With the speech now becoming controversial, Rane tried to juxtapose the situation of Pakistan with that of Kerala. To hang on tightly with his lewd remarks, Rane alleged the rampant forced conversion of Hindus to Islam in Kerala, which is nonsensical and a factoid.

Such statements come from little knowledge of the state, but the valour of Rane to go ahead public with such inane analysis speaks volumes. The leader is sure to escape the conundrum with impunity and also assured of getting the backing from the party echelons.

Rahul Gandhi, who won from Wayanad, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in UP with a majority of 3.9 lakh votes. As per Rane’s psephological 'brilliance', are those who voted for Rahul in Uttar Pradesh terrorists too?

Mumbai was the 'gulf' of the Malayalees in the old days. Nobody with a good sense of history would deny the role of Malayalees in making Mumbai a megalopolis. Even it is a matter of fact that different religious communities live more harmoniously in Kerala than in Maharashtra. Although some political leaders try to create communal divisions, they have hitherto failed to break the bulwark of religious harmony in the state.

It is unwise for political leaders to shout ludicrous theories, just for the sake of some applause. Kerala would have accepted the remark with dignity if it had been precise, studied, or had any resemblances with reality. But what came from Rane’s mouth was hate but nothing else. It would be ideal for the BJP leader to do a course correction and apologise. The choice is with Rane.