KANNUR: There were some valid reasons for BJP national president Amit Shah to cancel his participation in the Jana Raksha Yatra led by BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan on the third day. But, for the CPM it was an opportunity to paint the BJP into a corner which they grabbed with both the hands. The state BJP leadership chose to tone down the level of its acerbic attack as against the previous days when the yatra wound its way into Pinarayi, the hometown of the Chief Minister. The result: The CPM cadre too have opted to maintain peace in the face of inoffensive slogans from their BJP counterparts.
But the ground-level peace did not prevent the leaders from both the sides to give their takes on Shah’s absence from the road show. ‘’It was only around 9 am Amit Shah’s office informed us about his inconvenience to participate in the yatra as he has to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an important meeting,”. .
P K Krishnadas said, “’It was disappointing. As we all know, he is the president of the largest party and has a huge responsibility. So, such last-minute cancellations can happen. More leaders will join the yatra in the coming days. Nearly 100 members from other states are participating in the march every day.” ‘’Over 11,000 workers participated in the yatra,’’ claimed BJP district president P Sathyaprakash. Though all shops along the yatra route remained closed, people thronged either sides of the road to have a glimpse of the road show.
Krishnadas claimed the absence of Amit Shah, who returned to Delhi, had not affected the morale of the party workers in the state. As the third day’s march ended at Thalasserry, the leaders held a closed door meeting in the evening. However, CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan said “the march has lost its relevance. Even their national leader has abandoned it. The march should be stopped at Kannur itself as they have failed to attract people to it.”
Silence of Congress lets down party workers
Kannur: With the BJP taking the political fight to the red bastion and the CPM launching a massive counter offensive against the saffron brigade, the silence of the Congress has left the party workers disillusioned.