PINARAYI (KANNUR): The BJP’s ‘Janaraksha Yatra’ through Pinarayi on Thursday was robbed of the presence of its major crowd puller, its national president Amit Shah, who had to rush to New Delhi to attend a crucial GST meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CPM also ensured that the town remained shut. Party offices and libraries remained open.
The CPM made it amply clear that the saffron party was not welcome in Pinarayi with many areas, including Componder mukku, Padannakkara, Vadakkumbad and Nittur also, wearing a deserted look. Yatra leader and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan anno-unced at the last minute that Mr Shah would not be coming to join the much-hyped yatra through the Red citadel. “I told him that he need not come to Pinarayi as we are capable of taking on the CPM of Pinarayi,” Mr Kummanam told the cheering BJP workers at Mambram in Pinarayi where the yatra was kickstarted. BJP national secretary Arun Singh was the prominent face on the third day of the yatra which covered 11 km up to Thalassery.
Mr Arun Singh said the yatra had the blessings of 11 crore BJP men in the country and warned that it would ensure the end of Communist rule in the state.
The leaders had a brief stopover at the house of martyr Remith in Pinarayi. Over 5,000 cadres, including from Uduma, Thrikaripur and Kanjangad constituencies, participated in the rally.
