The police use water cannons on Monday to disperse a protest march led by the Adat Block Congress Committee to the residence of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Printu Mahadevan at Peramangalam who said bullets would be fired at Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Kerala Police registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Printu Mahadevan on Monday (September 28, 2025) for his alleged remarks in a TV programme that bullets would be fired at Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The Congress, meanwhile, escalated its attack on the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).The party accused the BJP-RSS combine of hatching a “conspiracy” to silence the Leader of the Opposition since they are “losing” the ideological battle and their “theft” has been exposed.Based on a complaint by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Sreekumar C.C., the Kerala Police registered a case against Mr. Mahadevan, a former state president of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS.The FIR cited provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), Section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) and Section 351(2) (criminal intimidation).‘Chilling death threat’The BJP leader allegedly made the remarks during a television debate on September 26, 2025 on the recent Gen Z-led protests in Nepal and reportedly claimed that such protests would not happen in India as people stood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Mr. Mahadevan then said that bullets would pierce the chest of Mr. Gandhi, if he had any such desires.The Congress termed these remarks as “chilling and heinous” death threat to Mr. Gandhi. “A BJP spokesperson issued an open threat during a TV debate. I don’t know why Kerala Police is not taking action, that’s why I wrote to Amit Shah Ji. There is a clear threat from a BJP spokesperson... We think this is part of a bigger conspiracy. I have not received any response from the Home Minister yet,” Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said.On Sunday (September 28, 2025), in a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over Mr. Mahadevan’s controversial remarks targeting Mr. Gandhi during a TV debate, Mr. Venugopal said “failure to act against him swiftly will be judged as complicity and normalisation of violence against the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha”.Khera alleges conspiracyCongress spokesperson and the party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera questioned why no action had been taken against a BJP spokesperson who, on TV, had said that “Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest”.“Before this, CRPF wrote a letter to (Congress chief Mallikarjun) Kharge ji on Rahul Gandhi’s safety and leaked it. So why is his security being politicised and such an environment being created?” Mr. Khera asked.He claimed that such incidents “stink of a conspiracy” and asked who was behind the conspiracy.“These are the same people who are losing the ideological battle, who do not have the weapons of ideas to defeat counter ideas. This conspiracy has to be exposed. First you tried to silence Rahul Gandhi with abuses and now you are threatening him with bullets. You are not able to digest the fact that people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are getting attracted to the issues raised by Gandhi. Your theft has been caught red-handed; you know it now that your time has passed,” Mr. Khera said in a video.Congress workers held a protest demonstration across the State demanding the arrest of the BJP spokesperson who had issued a death threat against Mr. Gandhi. The protest demonstration held in the capital under the auspices of the Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee was led by KPCC president Sunny Joseph and Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan. Hundreds of Congress workers participated in the demonstration from Museum Junction to Palayam Rakhtasakshi Mandapam. The protest demonstration held in front of the Rakhtasakshi Mandapam was inaugurated by Mr. Joseph Published - September 29, 2025 03:43 pm IST