BJP padyatra sees good response in Kannur

Heavy rains failed to dampen the response to the state-wide 'Jana Raksha Yatra' led by Kerala BJP president Kummanem Rajasekheran, which completed its Kannur leg on Friday.

The padyatra, which reached Kuthuparamabu near here, is a show of strength by the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and meant to highlight alleged violence by CPI-M cadres on BJP and RSS supporters.

The campaign is to end on October 17 in the state capital, and according to the original plan, BJP national president Amit Shah is expected to attend it.

Shah had flagged off the yatra on October 3 and participated in the padyatra in Payyanur in Kannur district.

On Friday, the padyatra saw the presence of Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal. During the lunch break the BJP leaders visited the home of K.T. Jayakrishnan, a school teacher who was brutally murdered by the CPI-M while he was teaching at a school near here in 1999.

Jayakrishnan was the vice president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha at the time.

Coordinator of the yatra and a former state BJP president V. Muraleedharan told reporters that their yatra is "already a success as since it has begun the top brass of the CPI-M has gone berserk in their remarks".

"The CPI-M is depicting those people who died due to sickness and in road accidents as martyrs and even its party organ is coming out with false stories. Fake videos are also being circulated to belittle our yatra, but those who have seen the response to the yatra know what the truth is," said Muraleedharan.

On Saturday, the yatra enters Kozhikode district and will see two Union Minister Sadananda Gowda and Dharmendra Pradhan take part.

--IANS

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