NEW DELHI: In line with his resolve to challenge the last surviving bastion of the Left, the BJP chief Amit Shah will embark on three days long visit of Kerala from Thursday with an aim to pitch the saffron outfit as a serious player in the state politics.
The BJP is looking forward to Shah’s visit as a show of strength, with the party apparently emboldened with significant increase in the members in the state.
The BJP chief will camp in and around Thiruvanathapuram and Kochi as part of the “Deen Dayal Vistar Karyakrama” of the party. Shah’s visit will be followed by intensive campaigning by senior BJP leaders in the state, including Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanvis.
“The BJP has significantly increased its base, including membership, in the state. Kerala ranks high on the agenda of the party, as the party is keen to uproot the Left from there. The Left ideology is outdated, and the BJP has taken upon the task to spread the message of the party ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year. Along with Tripura, the BJP is investing lot of energy in Kerala for not just expansion of the base but to capture power,” said a national general secretary of the BJP.
Incidentally, Shah has been frequently visiting Kerala even while the BJP had held the National Council meeting in the state last year in September. Shah will be camping in Kerala as part of his commitment to the party to give 15 days for the expansion work. So far the BJP chief has visited West Bengal, Telangana, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh as part of the Deen Dayal Vistar Karyakram. The BJP chief will also be visiting Tamil Nadu for three days in September.
On the exhortation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his concluding address to the National Council meeting in Kozikode last year, 3,68,000 BJP workers came forward to give 15 days each as full time workers to expand the base of the party across the country.