BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday revived his attack on Kerala’s ruling CPM and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said he was ready for a debate on development.
Shah was addressing BJP activists here on the culmination of Janaraksha Yatra, a state-wide rally led by the party’s state president Kummanam Rajasekharan.
He said the Centre did not allocate development funds to states based on parties that are power in those states and added that the BJP was ready for a debate on development with the CPM.
“Chief minister saheb, we are ready to clash on development, on eradication of poverty, on taking Kerala forward,” he said.
Shah revisited his allegations over the “politics of violence”, made during the yatra’s launch in Kannur on October 3.
“Since the Left government came to power in Kerala, 13 BJP-RSS activists have been killed, most of them in your district, Kannur. Will you take the moral responsibility for these killings?” Shah asked the chief minister.
He said as the Congress party was facing extinction due to corruption and dynastic politics, the Communist parties were staring at a similar route due to their violent politics. Shah also assured families of BJP-RSS workers killed in political clashes that no culprit would be able to evade the law.
The two-week yatra saw ministers and national leaders of the BJP joining in and also doubled as a point of intense debate between CPM and BJP leaders in the state.
The BJP has tried to project the rally as a show of strength while the CPM countered the claims with the Vengarabypoll election result that had the BJP finish fourth.
Published 17 October 2017, 14:43 IST