New Delhi: Union ministers Jitendra Singh and Vijay Goel along with other BJP leaders on Wednesday marched to protest the CPI (M)’s alleged targeting of party workers in Kerala. As many as 120 BJP workers have been killed in Kerala so far, the BJP has alleged.
BJP president Amit Shah had on Tuesday flagged off a ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’ in Kerala and had announced that a ‘padyatra’ will be held in all the state capitals from Wednesday over the issue of political violence in Kerala. “The violence by the Left in Kerala is a blot on Indian democracy,” Mr Singh said, while taking part in the protest.
Apart from the BJP, those parties which believe in democracy are also being targeted, he said.
Several BJP leaders and party workers, including the two Union ministers, and Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari, marched from the Delhi BJP office towards CPI(M) office on Bhai Veer Singh Marg. However, the police stopped them close to the Left party’s office.
Mr Singh claimed the BJP protest was aimed at preserving the Gandhian principle of non-violence, democratic values. He also urged other political parties to pay heed to the violence allegedly perpetrated by “the Communists in Kerala”.
“Other parties should not be under the illusion that violence in Kerala affects only the BJP. because its a blot and a curse on Indian democracy,” Mr Singh said.
“The party has accepted the challenge to restore the Gandhian ideal of non-violence because violence could not be a means to further one’s political goals,” he added.
Mr Goel too hit out at the Kerala government and blamed the local police for the violence against the BJP-RSS workers. “No justice can be expected in a state where a section of the police claims that they are Communists. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.
The BJP chief is likely to attend a protest march by the party at the CPI(M) office here on October 8, according to party sources. Meanwhile, the Left party has accused the BJP and the RSS of resorting to violence and denied the involvement of its government and leadership in the political killings.
