Kannur, Aug 12 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member C. Sadanandan on Tuesday launched a scathing rebuttal to CPI(M) leader M.V. Jayarajan’s recent remarks questioning his ‘legitimacy’ as a parliamentarian.

In a sharply worded Facebook post, Sadanandan declared that Jayarajan “is not capable of preventing me from continuing as an MP” and that even his “entire army” would be insufficient to stop him.

Dismissing alleged threats, he said that such “warrants of intimidation can be neatly folded and kept away in a cupboard”.

Sadanandan asserted that his Rajya Sabha seat was secured through the formal order of the “beloved President of the Republic” and supported by “thousands of families’ blessings”.

He said his past imprisonment was linked to political violence when cadres, “armed with bombs and swords by their leaders”, faced punishment for their actions.

The war of words began after Jayarajan likened Sadanandan to Pragya Singh Thakur, the controversial BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, and claimed “criminal activities” seemed to be his qualification for becoming an MP.

Jayarajan further alleged that being in Parliament did not grant anyone the right to “throw comrades into jail and boast about it”.

The confrontation comes amid heightened tensions between the BJP and CPI(M) in Kerala.

The CPI(M) has been on the defensive since August 4, when eight of its workers suffered a legal setback.

The Supreme Court refused to entertain their appeal against the Kerala High Court verdict upholding a seven-year jail term for the 1994 attack in which Sadanandan, then an RSS district leader in Kannur, had both legs severed.

On the day of the ruling, CPI(M) legislator and former Health Minister K.K. Shailaja drew attention after she led a farewell gathering at the party’s Mattannur office for the convicted men before they surrendered to the Thalassery Court.

The court subsequently sent them to Kannur Jail to serve the remainder of their sentence.

Political observers expect such fiery exchanges to escalate further as both parties gear up for upcoming electoral contests in Kerala.

–IANS

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