'Not party policy': Kerala Congress distances itself from youth activists' cow dung water protest

Thrissur (Kerala): The Congress on Friday distanced itself from the Youth Congress-KSU workers' attempt to sprinkle cow dung water on the stage used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent event in this central Kerala district, saying it was against the policy and culture of the party.

The party will not support any manner of protest that violates the decency of democracy, the party's Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha T N Prathapan said.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the YC-KSU activists' act of sprinkling cow dung-water was not done with the permission of the Congress.

'The decision was taken by the KSU state committee. The (Congress) party has clear policy in this. The party will not support any kind of protest that violates the decency of democracy,' he said.

The Thrissur MP further said that the Congress has its own way of protest and it could not turn into the Communist parties or the BJP in this regard.

He also claimed that the party follows the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and it won't do anything that negatively impacts that legacy.

Thrissur on Thursday saw some tense moments as BJP workers vehemently objected to Youth Congress-KSU workers attempting to sprinkle cow dung water on the stage used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event the previous day.

According to Hindu belief, cow dung water is used to cleanse impurities from a place.

Police intervened promptly and had to use force to disperse the two groups, restoring order in the area.

BJP state chief K Surendran strongly criticised the Congress, claiming that the act of sprinkling cow dung water on the Vadakkumnanatha temple ground (Thekkinkadu Maidan) exposed the party's elitist mindset.

In an apparent reference to Modi's OBC background, Surendran attributed the Congress's actions to them questioning how a person from a backward caste could speak on the sacred land of Lord Vadakkumnathan.