Amit Shah to take out 'padyatra' through Kannur; will walk past Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's house

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP national president Amit Shah will participate in a ‘padyatra’ in Kerala, which will see him walk past the home of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the latter’s hometown in Kannur on 5 October, as a mark of protest against what he called the ruling CPM’s “political violence” and growing jehadi terrorism, a BJP official said on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_3708189” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of BJP president Amit Shah. AP[/caption] V Muraleedharan, coordinator of the state-wide ‘yathra’ by state BJP president Kummanem Rajasekheran, said the padyatra was conceived in August, after the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office bearer E Rajesh on 29 July. The yathra will also see a campaign against the recent trend of jehadi terrorism promoted by Islamic fundamentalists, he told the media. “The state-wide yathra would be flagged off by Shah from Payanur in Kannur district on 3 October. He will walk for three days, and on 5 October, he will walk past Vijayan’s home at Pinarayi. That evening he will address a public meeting at Tellichery. He will then return on the concluding day of the yathra on 17 October and participate in a public meeting to be held here,” said Muraleedharan. “The maximum attacks on our cadres have taken place in Kannur district. The venue for flagging off the yathra is Payanur, in memory of V Ramakrishnan who became the first victim in 1969. In that case, Vijayan was an accused. Apart from the fight against political violence of the CPM, this yathra is also to highlight the spurt in jehadi terrorism, as we have seen that people from Kerala are also part of those who joined the Islamic State group,” added Muraleedharan. He said various Union ministers and top level national party leaders will walk with the yathra at various locations, and include Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Cabinet colleagues Smriti Irani, Ananathakumar and the lone Keralite in the Cabinet KJ Alphons. The BJP has just one member in the 140-seat Kerala Assembly, veteran minister O Rajagopal.