Amit Shah to kick off campaign against ‘CPM intolerance, Muslim extremism’ in Kerala

BJP National President Amit Shah. (Source: PTI Photo/File)

“CPI(M)’s intolerance” and “Muslim extremism” will be the dominant themes of the BJP’s two-week Kerala ‘janaraksha yatra’, which will see a battery of the party’s national leaders joining the state-wide campaign on foot.

BJP national president Amit Shah will inaugurate the yatra at Payyannur in Kannur on October 3. He will be part of the yatra for two days when it will pass through CPI(M)-dominated areas in Kannur district, which has been witnessing political violence.

The group will tour Kannur for four days and other districts for a day each. Leaders will walk 10 km every day and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan will head the yatra.

Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan said Islamic terrorism and CPI(M)’s intolerance are the topics that would be debated during the yatra. “Islamic terrorism has gained strength in Kerala under the regimes of the CPI(M) and Congress. Both parties have played a significant role in giving prominence to the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala politics.”

He said the yatra would debate not just “love jihad”, but issues related to Muslim extremism, including the suspected presence of Kerala youths in the Islamic State, recruitment of youths to terror camps in Kashmir, arms training camps in Kerala and chopping of a college professor’s palm.

He said the BJP is targeting the CPI(M) not just for political violence, but for the sheer “intolerance” of that party. “CPI (M) does not allow other parties, including the BJP, to function in their areas. That party’s intolerance is getting reflected in many incidents. After the CPI(M) government came to power, government employees who were not loyal to the Left were transferred arbitrarily,” Muraleedharan said.

Nine Union ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Ananth Kumar and Smriti Irani, will take part in the yatra which will conclude in the state capital on October 17. Payyanur has witnessed several incidents of political violence involving the CPI(M) and BJP in the last two years.