Amit Shah in Kerala: BJP president flags off Janaraksha Yatra from Payyannur; says end of CPM will finish political violence

BJP president Amit Shah lashed out at Kerala’s CPM and blamed the party for supporting political violence in the state as he flagged off the Janaraksha Yatra in Payyannur, Kannur on Tuesday. “End of CPM will herald the end of political violence,” Shah said, while calling out to BJP workers to end the violence in the state. The BJP president also said that wherever CPM ruled — be it Kerala, West Bengal or Tripura — political violence followed. He had previously said that more than 120 workers of the BJP had succumbed to death in Kerala due to political violence and further blamed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the killings of his party’s workers.

#BREAKING – We have now embarked on a journey to end communism in India. CPI(M) is known for its politics of violence: Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/kqiGVFFJHT

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 3, 2017

As part of a 154-kilometre yatra that started on Tuesday and will go on till 17 October, Shah walked seven kilometres in Kannur. On Thursday, he will join the march to walk another eight kilometres with the state BJP president Kummanam Rajasharan and others. [caption id=“attachment_4106499” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amit Shah flags off the Janraksha yatra from Kannur on Tuesday. Twitter/ AmitShah[/caption] The yatra which will end in Thiruvananthapuram will cover 11 districts in Kerala and is seen as a strong move to tap into Kerala’s vote bank. Earlier during the day, Shah also announced a two-week ‘padyatra’ in all state capitals from Wednesday against the CPM’s alleged targeting of his party’s workers, PTI reported. On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will also join the BJP president. Other ministers who will address the march at different venues include  Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Ananth Kumar, The Hindustan Times reported. “CPM should self introspect. Why did their presence disappear from the world and is disappearing from India, too? The reason is political violence. On one side, Congress is disappearing and on other side BJP is progressing with our ideology,” he said. “More the mud of violence, more the lotus will bloom,” he had said. To pay a tribute to the slain BJP workers in Kannur, a photo exhibition was also held, reported The Indian Express. Despite issues, BJP managed to bring all its prominent allies together during the yatra. Just before Shah’s arrival, BDJS general secretary Subhash Vasuasserted his party’s support for BJP in the fight against political violence.