Cheaganoor, (Ker), Oct 14 (PTI) Union minister and BJPleader Smriti Irani today slammed the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala,saying democracy was being "crushed" under its rule in thestate.
Addressing the ongoing 'Jan Raksha Yatra' to "expose" thealleged "red terror" under the Left rule, she said theCommunist party does not believe in democracy.
She alleged that 286 RSS-BJP workers have been killedunder the CPI(M) rule, among whom 84 were from Kannurdistrict, the home town of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Irani, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting andTextiles, also charged that the Communists have a history ofhelping "anti-nationals".
During the India-China war of 1962, the Communists hadsided with China, she alleged.
She said the padyatra led by BJP's state presidentKummanom Rajasekharan was to protect the values of democracy.
Irani also said that BJP cadres stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the families of victims of CPI-M attacks.
"We will ensure justice to those killed in the CPI(M)violence," she said.
Union Minister of State for Human Resources DevelopmentSatyapal Singh, while addressing a padayatra meeting atCherthala in neighbouring Alappuzha, said that worldover,people have rejected Communism.
"West Bengal has given up the CPI(M) and they are goingto be defeated in Tripura also," he said.
Singh said the Narendra Modi government at the Centrewas focusing on the development of the country.
The 'Jan Raksha Yatra', launched by BJP president AmitShah in Payyanoor in Kannur on October three, would end atThiruvananthapuram on October 17.
Shah is scheduled to address a rally in the state capitalThiruvanthapuram on culmination of the 15-day programme. PTIJRK RCAKK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.