Hundreds of BJP leaders and workers set off on a 15-day march against political violence in Kerala which was kicked off by party president Amit Shah.
Speaking about the event, Amit Shah said that Yatra was to invoke ‘awareness’, and they had chosen Kannur because most murders took place there.
He said: “Yatra is to invoke awareness. 13 workers have been brutally murdered in a short span of time. If we don't bring awareness now, they won't stop. Chose Kannur because most murders took place here. Movement to go on till Oct 17, also in Delhi & all state capitals. Then we'll take out huge 'Jan Sampark Abhiyan' in Kerala.”
He added: “Movement non-political. Wanted to stand with our workers and their families and make situation where there's no further political violence.”
Scores of BJP-RSS workers and the state's ruling CPI-M cadres have been killed in violent clashes over the years, and the saffron party is keen on highlighting these to expand its base in the southern state where it has been a marginal player.
The 'Janraksha Yatra' with the theme "All have to live! Against Jihadi-Red Terror" began from the Gandhi statue here this afternoon where Shah hit out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the "political killings".
Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam, MPs Suresh Gopi and Richard Hey, former Karnataka Education Minister C T Ravi, BJP Puducherry president V Swaminathan, and many other BJP leaders and workers joined the foot march.
Shah, on a three-day visit to the state, led the march after paying floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
The 'Janraksha Yatra' (March for Protection of People) that began from Payyanur will pass through several parts of Kerala before concluding in state capital Thiruvananthapuram on October 17.
Today's yatra will conclude in Pilathara, about 8 km from Payyanur.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanadh will join the march tomorrow from Keecheri to Kannur, Vijayan's home town and the hub of the political violence.
Joining the rally, hundreds of BJP workers, mostly from Kannur and Kasargod districts, raised slogans against political violence under the CPI(M)-led LDF government.
BJP has alleged that as many as its 120 workers have been killed, 84 in Kannur alone, since 2001. It has claimed 14 of these killings have taken place since Vijayan took over the reins of the government last year.
The CPI(M) has, in turn, accused the BJP-RSS combine of unleashing violence and denied any role of its government and cadres in it.
Several Union ministers will join the march in different stages, party leaders said.
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