Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said on Wednesday that there could be a conspiracy in the steep rise in the Muslim population in the State over the decades, even as the population of Hindus and Christians fell.
Speaking at a public meeting held here on Wednesday as part of the BJP’s Jana Raksha Yatra, Mr. Singh said Kerala was probably being used by the Islamic State as part of a larger plan and the Communists were just playing into their hands.
Maintaining that Communist party-ruled Tripura and Kerala topped in unemployment, he said people should go to Gujarat to see real development. Kerala, he said, fared nowhere in comparison to BJP-ruled States like Madhya Pradesh in agriculture or financial management. He accused Kerala government of not putting to use money disbursed by the Centre for projects. “The government doesn’t have money to pay workers, but the party that steers the government is good at eliminating political opponents,” he alleged, saying that the State saw downward growth in agriculture, paddy and rubber.
Mr. Singh also warned the government against observing the centenary of the 1921 Malabar uprising as a people’s struggle. “It was actually a jihadi struggle in which Hindu women were brutally raped and killed.”
Earlier, the yatra was received in the district at Karukutty and a padayatra led by State president of the party Kummanam Rajasekharan was joined by party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi and Union Minister Babul Supriyo between Edappally and Rajendra Maidan.
BDJS leader V. Gopakumar said the yatra would boost the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP to work harder for a change in the State.
Case registered
The Palarivattom police have registered a case against the BJP’s Jana Raksha Yatra on the charge of creating traffic block along the Palarivattom-Kaloor road.