BJP leaders march along Kerala CM's home district

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and several senior BJP leaders on Friday joined the party’s march against the ruling CPM in Kerala over the killing of saffron workers, as it passed through the politically volatile Kannur district on the fourth day.

Braving rain, hundreds of party workers resumed the march from nearby Panur and walked through the streets of Kannur, which is the home town of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The padayatra will move to the neighbouring Kozhikode district on Saturday.

The party said the 15-day march, flagged off by BJP national president Amit Shah, aims to expose the alleged ‘red and jihadi terrorism’ under the CPM-led LDF government rule in the southern state.

Hitting out at the Left party, Meghwal charged that the communists do not believe in democracy. India is a pluralistic country where all political parties have the freedom to function, Meghwal said, adding that people in the state would give a befitting reply to the CPM’s attitude of obstructing the functioning of other political parties.

The minister of state for water resources also visited the house of K T Jayakrishnan Master, a BJP worker who was hacked to death reportedly by CPM activists in front of students while he was taking a class in a school in the district in December 1999.