Chennai, Mar 6: Hours after senior BJP leader H Raja warned of a Lenin-style takedown of Periyar's statues in Tamil Nadu, miscreants in Vellore reportedly vandalised a statue of the Dravidian ideologue.

The incident was confirmed by Vellore police late on Tuesday, claiming that two persons have been arrested. One among the apprehended is a BJP worker, the police claimed, while the other belongs to the CPI.

Earlier in the day, BJP national secretary H Raja issued a statement in support of the zealous party workers who took down a statue of Lenin in Tripura's Belonia town, while celebrating the party's victory in the recently held assembly elections.

Not only did Raja condone the act of Tripura BJP workers, but also predicted a similar fate of the statues of EV Ramasamy, also known as Periyar, in Tamil Nadu.

"Who is Lenin? What is his connection to India? What is the connection of communists to India? Lenin's statue was destroyed in Tripura. Today Lenin's statue, tomorrow Tamil Nadu's EVR Ramaswamy's statue," he said on Facebook. The post was later deleted.

Reacting to his statement, the DMK, whose predecessor Dravidar Kazhagam was founded by Periyar, demanded the state government to arrest Raja under the Goondas Act for instigating violence.

"A senior leader like H Raja is often making comments that will trigger violence. My view is that he has to be arrested under the (stringent) Goondas Act," said DMK's Working President M K Stalin.

Meanwhile, the Left parties organised a rally in Kolkata to protest against the vandalisation of Lenin statues in Tripura. Hitting out at BJP's "fascistic mindset", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, "This proves that the BJP-RSS is undemocratic. The people of Tripura will answer back to them in a democratic manner."

CPM received support from unexpected quarters as their arch nemesis in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress issued a statement condemning the vandalisation of Lenin's statue. "Whether it's Lenin, Marx, Gandhi or any other ideologue, such kinds of incidents are unacceptable in a democracy. The true colours of BJP are getting exposed," said TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 10:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).