Smriti Irani slams ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, says democracy being 'crushed'

Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani on Saturday slammed the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, saying democracy was being "crushed" under its rule in the state.

Addressing the ongoing 'Jan Raksha Yatra' to "expose" the alleged "red terror" under the Left rule, she said the Communist party does not believe in democracy.

She alleged that 286 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPI(M) rule, among whom 84 were from Kannur district, the home town of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Irani, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Textiles, also charged that the Communists have a history of helping "anti-nationals".

During the India-China war of 1962, the Communists had sided with China, she alleged.

She said the padyatra led by BJP's state president Kummanom Rajasekharan was to protect the values of democracy.

Irani also said that BJP cadres stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the families of victims of CPI-M attacks.

"We will ensure justice to those killed in the CPI(M) violence," she said.

Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development Satyapal Singh, while addressing a padayatra meeting at Cherthala in neighbouring Alappuzha, said that world over, people have rejected Communism.

"West Bengal has given up the CPI(M) and they are going to be defeated in Tripura also," he said.

Singh said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was focusing on the development of the country.

The 'Jan Raksha Yatra', launched by BJP president Amit Shah in Payyanoor in Kannur on October three, would end at Thiruvananthapuram on October 17.

Shah is scheduled to address a rally in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on the culmination of the 15-day programme.