Bengaluru: The BJP’s Karnataka unit today hit out at actor Prakash Raj for criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on those “celebrating” the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying he has shown “political immaturity.”

Raj had described as “chilling” the silence of Modi on those “celebrating” the killing of Lankesh, including the ones followed by him on Twitter. State senior BJP leader and spokesman S Suresh Kumar said, “The actor has shown his political immaturity by making a statement that suits his political ideology. Such allegations were made to win accolades.”

While questioning Modi’s silence, Raj appeared to suggest on Sunday that he felt like “returning” his awards to “such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened”, but later insisted that he was “not such a fool to give back the national awards.”

Raj, who has acted in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil movies, had been a family friend of  Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants here on September 5. The BJP spokesman also sought to know why the actor preferred to remain silent during the Cauvery agitation by saying that he is only an actor. “If Raj wants to be active in politics, let him start his own political party. We do not want him to issue any certificate to Modi,” said Kumar.