An Ayyappa devotee, who attempted self-immolation as part of the BJP protest in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, succumbed to burns on Thursday evening.. BJP has called a statewide dawn-to-dusk hartal on Friday as a mark of protest..

RSS worker Venugopalan Nair (55) from Thiruvananthapuram, who doused himself in petrol, chanted Ayyappa mantras and rushed to the protest venue after setting himself ablaze at 2 pm.

Party activists and police nearby doused the fire and rushed him to the Medical College Hospital as he suffered 90 per cent burns. He died a few hours later.

Party leader CK Padmanabhan has been undergoing fast at the venue demanding withdrawal of prohibitory orders at Sabarimala. BJP held Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responsible for the death of the RSS activist and called a statewide hartal on Friday.