Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary H Raja is at it again. The BJP leader, who has been in the eye of a storm over his comments on Periyar statue after Lenin’s statue was brought down in Tripura, has claimed that Dravidam was imposed to finish of Tamil language.

Speaking to media at Oddanchatram in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, Raja said: “Dravidam was floated to ensure Tamil language shouldn’t exist. There are strong proof of E V Ramasamy (or Periyar, as he was popularly known) cursing Tamil. When such truths are being brought to the public notice, people are being attacked.”

Local media has played up these comments as another controversy raked in by the BJP leader.

On Monday, the statue of Lenin was brought down in Tripura after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government lost the assembly elections. Commenting on bringing down the statue, H Raja wrote on his Facebook status that the day was not far off when Periyar’s statue would be brought down in Tamil Nadu. This resulted in hue and cry being raised in the state with a statue of Periyar being damaged in Vellore. Two people were arrested in connection with the damage. Raja subsequently clarified that the administrator of his Facebook account had made the comment without his permission and apologised for it.