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R Balakrishna Pillai, a member of Kerala's ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front, has kicked off a political storm by criticising the A K Antony government for its failure to secure the release of People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani jailed in connection with the Coimbatore serial blasts case.
Pillai is leader of the Kerala Congress-B and his son K B Ganesh Kumar is a minister in the UDF government.
Several parties, including those from the ruling coalition, called for action against him after a PDP rally on Thursday near the state secretariat, which he inaugurated, ended in large-scale violence.
Two members of the Sangh Parivar have already approached a court seeking action against Pillai accusing him of inciting violence through his provocative speech.
In his speech, Pillai, who is aggrieved with the UDF leadership for denying him a ministerial berth after the 2001 assembly election owing to his conviction in some corruption cases, had blamed Antony for Madani's continued incarceration.
The PDP leader was convicted for his involvement in the blast at the venue of a function, which was to be addressed by BJP leader Lal Kishenchand Advani in 1996 in Coimbatore.
After Pillai's speech, PDP workers had gone on a rampage attacking shops, vehicles, newspaper offices and passers-by.
Pillai claims that he had only urged the PDP workers to lead a Gandhian struggle.
However, senior UDF leaders counter that he had spoken of a Gandhian-style agitation only after pouring venom against the state government and the chief minister.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Muralidharan said Pillai had spoken like a 'street goon'.
Opposition leader and Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member V S Achutanandan has also been unsparing in his criticism of Pillai.
While senior UDF leaders are planning to oust him from the ruling front, Pillai has sought the support of senior Congress leader K Karunakaran, who has been itching to oust Antony from the chief minister's post.
Pillai has been hiding behind Karunakaran in the face of mounting demands that he quit the UDF. "I was brought into the UDF by Karunakaran. I would quit only if he asks me. Let the KPCC president throw me out," he said.
So far, Karunakaran has maintained silence on the issue.
The Madani issue took centrestage after the Kerala police opposed the PDP leader's plea for parole to take part in the post-funeral rites of his grandmother, who died in August.
The police feared that his presence in Kerala would trigger a law and order problem. Senior police officers view Thursday's incidents as a vindication of their stand.
Madani had emerged in the nineties as a fundamentalist leader championing the interests of Muslims through an outfit called the Islamic Sevak Sangh.
He floated the PDP after the ISS was banned in the wake of the Babri mosque's demolition. The PDP is seen as the political reincarnation of the ISS.
Besides the Coimbatore blast case, in which he was convicted four-and-a-half years ago, there are several cases pending against Madani in Kerala for making inflammatory speeches.
Pillai told PTI that he had inaugurated the PDP rally as the party had supported the UDF in the last elections. A few UDF candidates had found their way to the assembly with the PDP's support, he said.
It was a known fact that the UDF had 'given an assurance' to the PDP before the last assembly election that it would explore avenues to get Madani released on bail, he said.
However, he has criticised Thursday's violence saying it would work against Madani.
Some years ago, Pillai had courted controversy when he called for steps similar to those adopted in Punjab to tackle terrorism, in Kerala.
With inputs from PTI
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