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As Kerala boils over beef, Amit Shah arrives to shore up state BJP

  • Amit Shah arrived at the Nedumbassery International Airport at 10.30 am
  • He would attend the state NDA meeting and meet with bishops
  • He asked state leadership to enrol more youths to the party ahead of 2019 elections
As Kerala boils over beef Amit Shah arrives to shore up state BJP

BJP chief Amit Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Kerala, asked party members to take measures to enrol more youths from the state ahead to next Parliament elections. He made the proposal at the core committee meeting of BJP, in Kochi. 

Shah's visit is amid a raging row in Kerala over Centre's rule restricting cattle slaughter. 

BJP chief, who arrived at the Nedumbassery International Airport at 10.30 am, was accorded a rousing welcome by state president Kummanam Rajasekharan and hundreds of workers.

During his visit, Shah would attend the state NDA meeting and meet with bishops as part of efforts to win over a section of Christians in the state. The state leadership hopes the visit of Shah will help build bridges with the minority community, which accounts for 18-20 per cent of votes in the state. The Hindu far right has often been at loggerheads with Christians over the hugely contentious issue of religious conversions. 

The party's in-charge of the state H Raja had said the meeting is aimed at "understanding each other" and added that Shah would undertake an "in-depth" analysis of the organisational work in the state during his three-day stay. 

 

 

Shah is likely to flag the recent public slaughter of a calf by Youth Congress workers. The public butchering of a calf by Youth Congress leaders in Kerala last week to protest the Centre's ban on sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter has come in handy for him and he is likely to target the Congress, which has been on the defensive over the issue. 

However, it will be a tricky matter for BJP as beef is widely consumed in the state and a strident stand on the matter is unlikely to be of much help, especially while it attempts to woo Christians. 

Claiming that BJP was gaining ground in Kerala, Raja said the "party has started gaining ground in Kerala. A few popular people who have so far not been in politics will be welcomed to BJP during Amit Shah's Kerala visit," he said. 

Kerala is important in BJP's strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as Shah expects to win a chunk of its 20 seats after the party increased its vote share substantially to 16 percent in the 2016 assembly polls.

(With PTI inputs) 

 

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