A Mahila Morcha (Women's wing of BJP) activist attempted to commit suicide, allegedly fearing that she would not be given a ticket in the local body election at Nedumangad here on Sunday, police said.
The incident came soon after RSS activist Anand K Thampi (39) committed suicide on Saturday, alleging that he was denied a seat to the Thrikkannapuram ward of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
According to police, Salini of Panaykottala, Nedumangad, a leader of Mahila Moracha caused injuries to her wrist at midnight.
Her son noticed this and rushed the woman to a hospital. Salini's condition is stable and she was discharged after preliminary medical aid in the morning, police said.
Speaking to reporters, Salini said she is the Mahila Morcha district secretary and that her candidacy is being considered by the party for the Nedumangad municipality election.
"Before the candidature was to be announced, some RSS and BJP activists circulated fake allegations against me due to a personal grudge to deny the ticket. I was depressed by this false allegation that affected my life," she said.
According to her, she recently learnt that another name was also under consideration.
"Ten years back, when I was preparing to contest the election from my ward, the same persons raised allegations. Then I had to contest the election from another ward," she said.
She said attempts to deny her a ticket were not from the BJP but from some people with vested interests.
Even though she refused to name them, Salini said such fake accusations surface only during election time.
"They wanted another person as a candidate in the ward. Since the party is likely to deny a ticket to their candidate, they made fake allegations so that the party may reconsider the other person," she said.
The party leadership is yet to respond to the incident.
Poojapura police have registered a case with regard to the suicide death of Thampi, under section 194 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that deals with unnatural death.
As per the FIR, Thampi was found hanging in a shed on the compound of his house on Saturday at 5 pm.
Thampi had hoped to contest as the BJP candidate from the Thrikkannapuram ward of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, a police official said.
He became upset after discovering that his name was not included in the BJP's Thiruvananthapuram candidate list. He later announced on social media that he would contest as an independent, police said.
According to police, he sent WhatsApp messages to friends making allegations against RSS leaders and declaring that he intended to end his life on Saturday evening.
In his message, Thampi claimed he had informed RSS activists of his desire to contest the election.
He alleged that he was denied a ticket due to the interests of some local leaders associated with a sand-smuggling mafia.
However, BJP leaders claimed he never approached them seeking a ticket and that his death should not be linked to the denial of a ticket.
When reporters on Sunday asked MP Shashi Tharoor about the suicide and suicide attempt in the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram, he said he did not want to play politics over personal tragedy.
"Both were youngsters. We all grieve when young people make such attempts." The only thing I have to say is that a proper investigation should take place to know the cause of these incidents," he said.
Congress leader K Muralidharan on Sunday said the suicide tendency among BJP activists was due to their commitment to the party.
"However, they are aggrieved by the people managing the party. This shows the inability of the party leadership," he said.
According to him, BJP workers cannot raise complaints within the party, and the organisation has been confined to one person.
Indirectly attacking BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Muralidharan said, "However, that person is yet to understand what Kerala is. Even though he is a born Malayali, he was brought up outside Kerala," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
| Helplines | |
|---|---|
| Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health | 9999666555 or help@vandrevalafoundation.com |
| TISS iCall | 022-25521111 (Monday-Saturday: 8 am to 10 pm) |
| (If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.) | |
