The Bharatiya Janata Party's historic victory from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat has seemingly irked Congress party workers as a fight broke out at the grand old party's DCC office in the constituency.
The tussle broke out over Congress leader K Muraleedharan's defeat at the hands of BJP's Suresh Gopi, that too with a stunning margin of 74,686 votes.
A purported video of the fight has also been going viral on social media. Fisticuffs, pushing, punching were all part of this tussle at the DCC office, along with slapping.
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Police on Saturday registered an FIR against Thrissur District Congress Committee (DCC) president Jose Vallur and 19 other party members, based on the complaint of DCC secretary Sajeevan Kuriachira.
As many as 20 accused have been booked under various bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unlawful assembly, wrongful restrain, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt.
In his complaint, Kuriachira alleged that Vallur and his supporters at the DCC office assaulted him on Friday.
The DCC secretary is a part of Muraleedharan's close circle, which has blamed former MP TN Prathapan and Vallur for the party's loss in this central Kerala constituency.
Meanwhile, the BJP's Kerala unit took a jibe at the grand old party on X, asking "Aren't these the very people who claimed sometime back, of having opened Mohabbat Ki Dukan in Bharat?"
It said that if this fight amid party cadres "happens to be a classic example of intense camaraderie, wondering what our dear Shehzada would have to face in each nook and corner of his party".
"Shouldn't they clarify if they are selling Pyar or Nafrat?" BJP's Kerala unit asked.
Reportedly, posters outside the Thrissur DCC office criticising the Congress leadership for the "unexpected" defeat of Muraleedharan triggered a massive row in its district unit.
Notably, Suresh Gopi's victory with 4,12,338 votes led the BJP to open its first account in Kerala for the Lok Sabha. Muraleedharan settled at the third position, bagging 3,28,14 votes.
Disappointed with the results, Muraleedharan had announced that he would not contest the elections anymore, adding that he would be away from public life for a while.
(With PTI inputs)
