CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s remarks that even Hindus can be violent kicked up a political row on Friday, with the Shiv Sena asking him to “first” remove the word Sitaram from his name.

“First of all Yechury ji should remove Sitaram from his name if he believes that Rama, Krishna, Sita, Arjuna were proponents of violence and their fight was not for Dharma and Satya (religion and truth). Then why his parents kept his name after them. He should answer this,” Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.

The BJP also lashed out at Yechury, accusing him of “toeing” the Congress line to insult Hindus for votes. The party said it was not Hindus but the communists and the Maoists who are violent.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao asked the CPI-M leader to “look within and identify the defects.”

Speaking in Bhopal, Yechury questioned as to why right-wing outfits associate violence with a particular religion, saying epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata prove that “even Hindus can be violent”.