Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, two former Kerala High Court judges had joined the BJP. According to reports, justice P N Ravindran had joined the party during it's Vijaya Yatra function in Kerala on Sunday and V Chitambaresh is slated to officially join the party in the next few days.
"I have been a fellow traveller of the BJP. Now, I have officially embraced the party," he was quoted as telling The New Indian Express. And while much is being said about the possibility of these new members of the party contesting polls, this is this is not the first time that Justice V Chitambaresh who served as a High Court judge until 2019 has been in the news.
In 2019, social media had erupted in outrage after Justice Chitambaresh made some problematic remarks during a speech at the Tamil Brahmin’s Global Meet. He suggested that the Brahmin community to agitate against caste-based reservation and extolled the virtues of Brahmins. He appeared to be well aware of the fact that he held a Constitutional post, clarifying that he was not expressing an opinion per se.
"I am not expressing my opinion at all. But I am only kindling your interest or reminding you that there is a platform for you to agitate or to voice your concern about economic reservation alone, and not caste or communal reservation," he was quoted as saying by a Bar and Bench article.
Months away from retirement at the time, the judge also opined that there were certain characteristics that made Brahmins the ideal person to be at the helm of affairs.
“It may be noted that a Brahmin is never communal, he is always considerate, he is an ahimsavadi (proponent of peace). He loves people, he is one who liberally donates for any laudable cause. Such a person should always be at the helm of affairs for which this Tamil Brahmin meet will definitely be a turning point," he had reportedly said.
(With inputs from agencies)
