Amit Shah to led BJP padayatra against CPM's 'red terrorism' on CM Pinarayi's home turf

BJP president Amit Shah would launch a 15-day statewide padayatra from Payyanur in Kannur on October 3 to expose the ruling CPM's "red terrorism" and "political fascism" in the state. 

Besides Shah, several Union ministers and other senior party leaders would also take part in the "janaraksha yatra", to be led by state party chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, said BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. 

Muraleedharan stressed that Payyanur was chosen as the starting point of the march as it had witnessed a series of violent incidents of late. 

"Amit Shah will take part in the march for three days. He will walk through Pinarayi in Kannur, the hometown of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan," he said, adding that the BJP chief would also be present on the concluding day of the march in Thiruvananthapuram on October 17.

Also read: Lawyer moves High Court seeking ban on BJP's 'janaraksha yatra'

Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Ananth Kumar, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Mahesh Sharma, VK Singh and Alphons Kannanthanam were among those expected to take part in the yatra on different days. 

The march would crisscross through 11 of the 14 districts of the state, Muraleedharan, the coordinator of the yatra, said. He alleged that the CPM was promoting "red terrorism" in Kerala. 

"The CPM's aim is not to allow anyone make inroads into their bastion and to annihilate such people. This is the root cause behind the majority of political killings in the state. The padayatra will expose the intolerance and political fascism of the Marxist party and infuse confidence among the public," the BJP leader said.

• Amit Shah
• Pinarayi Vijayan
• BJP
• CPM