New Delhi, March 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned the incidents of vandalism reported from Tripura and Tamil Nadu.

The Prime Minister strongly disapproved the toppling of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as 'Lenin', statue in south Tripura and vandalism of social activist and politician E.V. Ramasamy 'Periyar' bust in Vellore.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Prime Minister spoke with Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh in this regard and strongly disapproved of such incidents. The MHA has taken serious note of such incidents of "vandalism" and asked the states to take all necessary measures to prevent such events, an MHA statement said. The statement also said persons responsible for such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law.

Also, reacting on the incidents of statues and busts getting toppled and vandalised, BJP President Amit Shah tweeted on Wednesday morning saying that the BJP does not believe in belittling anyone by indulging in acts of violence and that it does not believe in bringing down any statue. He also described the incident as unfortunate.

The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody’s statue.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 7, 2018

Amit Shah also tweeted that the BJP respects various ideologies and believes that they can exist in India simultaneously. The master strategist, credited by many for the success of BJP in recent assembly elections, also reiterated that debate and discussion strengthens diversity.

As a party, we in the BJP believe that a wide range of ideas and ideologies can coexist in India. This is exactly how the makers of our Constitution envisioned our great nation to be.

India’s diversity and the vibrant spirit of debate and discussion is what strengthens us.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 7, 2018

There were reports in media that the crowd which had gathered when the Lenin statue was toppled in Belonia district of Tripura were BJP supporters and indulged in the act of vandalism while their over-the-top victory celebration. The BJP president has clearly said that those found from BJP indulging in any violent act will be severely dealt with and face strict action.

I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any statue will face severe action from the party.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 7, 2018

On Monday, in a video doing rounds on social media, a group of alleged BJP supporters were seen toppling the statue of the Communist revolutionary leader in Belonia town in the state of Tripura. Following the incident, there has been a war of words between leaders of BJP and CPI-M. Reports have started emerging of busts and statues getting vandalised and toppled from other parts of the country such as the Periyar bust destroyed in Tamil Nadu and Syama Prasad Mukherjee's bust getting vandalised in Kolkata.