New Delhi, Mar 20: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday blamed the Centre-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the vandalisation of late social reformer EV Ramaswamy alias Periyar's statues in Tamil Nadu.

The allegations of Gandhi came shortly after another Periyar statue was targeted by unidentified miscreants in TN's Pudukkottai district.

"When the RSS and BJP encouraged the tearing down of Lenin statues in Tripura, they signalled their cadres to destroy statues of those who opposed their ideology, like Periyar, the great social reformer who fought for the Dalits," Rahul said on Twitter today.

The Gandhi scion was referring to the statues of Lenin which were brought in down in Tripura by alleged BJP workers after the party's resounding win over the CPI(M) in the state assembly elections.

The statue of Periyar, as shown in the image above, was attacked near Alangudi village in Pudukkottai district. The severed head was found lying near the statue.

The vandalisation incident comes amid the ongoing Rama Rajya Rath Yatra in southern India, which entered Tamil Nadu on Monday. Led by seers, the rally is expected to culminate at Rameswaram. Cadres of the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad have extended support to the rally, actively participating in it.

Security has been beefed up in Tamil Nadu as Dravidian activists had opposed the yatra entering the state, calling it "an attempt by the right-wing elements to stoke communal disturbance".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2018 03:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).