Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today is taking part in BJP's Jan Raksha Yatra (March for People's Protection) in Kerala. The yatra was launched by BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday from Payyannur in Kannur district of Kerala.

Adityanath's participation in the BJP's Kerala march may indicate that the party is also likely to use the Uttar Pradesh template in the southern state.

The yatra is a show of strength by the BJP to protest against the murders and incidents of lynching of BJP and RSS cadres allegedly by the ruling Left cadres in the state. On reaching Kerala to take part in the march, Adityanath said people need to be made aware of the political killings if they are taking place under political patronage.

By raising the political killings in Kerala under "political patronage", the BJP is aiming to achieve the three objectives that were also highlighted in the run-up to the UP Assembly elections held earlier this year.

LAW AND ORDER

Launching the Jan Raksha Yatra on October 3, Amit Shah said that more than 84 BJP and RSS workers had been killed in Kannur alone and 120 of them murdered in the state since 2001.

By highlighting the issue of the murder of BJP and RSS cadres, the BJP is trying to hit out at the law and order situation in the state headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

In Uttar Pradesh too, the BJP had targeted the then ruling Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav on the law and order situation in the state. It had sought to bring into focus the "excesses" committed by the Samajwadi Party workers on the common man.

The BJP would allege that the police stations were run not by the police, but by Samajwadi Party workers and leaders.

POLARISE

Power in Kerala has rotated between the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). By alleging that 120 BJP and RSS cadres have been murdered since 2001, Amit Shah attempted to discredit both the governments.

The BJP is clearly seeking to make political killings an issue of ideological war. The right-wing party is trying to consolidate the Hindu voters who account for 54.73 per cent of the state's population as against 26.56 per cent Muslims and 18.38 per cent Christians, as per the 2011 Census.

The LDF and UDF bank largely on the Muslim and Christian voters and a large chunk also of the Hindus to come to power. The BJP is seeking to upset this equation and garner the support of the majority Hindus to become a force to reckon with in 'God's Own Country'.

In UP too, the BJP had played the communal polarisation card to unite Hindus, including the Dalits, who constitute more than 20 per cent of the state's population and were ardent supporters of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had helped polarise votes by raking up issues like Muslim graveyards versus Hindu cemeteries and Eid versus Diwali.

GALVANISE CADRES

The BJP is seeking to endear itself to the party and RSS cadres by taking up the cause of their security on such a large scale. The Jan Raksha Yatra will cover 11 of the 14 districts in Kerala. It will culminate in state capital Thiruvananthapuram on October 17. Amit Shah is expected to remain present on the concluding day.

Apart from Yogi Adityanath, senior Union ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, will also join and address the march.

This is sure to boost the morale of the Sangh Parivar cadres. The BJP would only hope this, in turn, would help the party during the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections.

Amit Shah is known for according importance to party cadres. In UP Assembly elections too, he had laid emphasis on the booth-level workers, by meeting them and holding meetings with them.

The BJP, which has just one member in the 140-seat Kerala Assembly, had garnered 15 per cent of the votes polled during the 2016 Assembly elections and 10 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. It is seeking to cross the 20 per cent threshold to become a third force in the southern state.

The party hopes that the UP template may come in handy.

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Adityanath's participation in the BJP's Kerala march may indicate that the party is also likely to use the Uttar Pradesh template in the southern state.