Yogi Aditya Nath to join Amit Shah on Kerala yatra on Wednesday

KANNUR: Indicating that it has no qualms in flaunting saffron colours in Kerala, a state where Hindutva politics has never been mainstream, BJP has inducted UP chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath into its "Jan Raksha Yatra" against "political killings" of BJP-RSS cadres.

Aditya Nath will reach Kannur, the home district of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Wednesday to join BJP president Amit Shah on the yatra, the only BJP CM to be invited so far. The intent seems to be to rev up the Hindutva quotient to polarise opinion against CPM, which BJP accuses of promoting violence and being soft on Islamic fundamentalism.

The slogan of the yatra, "All must live! Against jihadired terror", reflects the aim to tag the Left for appeasing minority fundamentalists and meshes with BJP's campaign. The UP CM, who has a combative image and is a symbol of assertive saffron politics, is also seen to be a crowd-puller, not the least for his novelty in Kerala.

The prominence being accorded to Yogi bucks the trend where BJP satraps have remained restricted to home turfs. At least in BJP's view, Yogi, with his raw Hindutva appeal, seems to be an asset outside UP too.

Shah launched the yatra from Payyanur in Kannur on Tuesday and several senior functionaries are likely to join the 14-day march against political violence which BJP claims has seen 120 of its workers being killed by CPM workers.

Yogi will reach Kannur on Wednesday and take part in the yatra and other political events. He may stay the whole day and spend time with party workers. His significance was clear, with Shah announcing Yogi's arrival to an enthusiastic response from the crowd in Kannur and Pilathara.

BJP's tactics are intended to appeal to the electorate in a state where Hindus are close to 55% of the population. The reference to radical Islam echoes reports that the so-called Islamic State got a large number of recruits from the state.