Smriti Irani slams CPM in Kerala for crushing democracy

Cheaganoor: Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani on Friday slammed the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, saying democracy was being “crushed” under its rule in the state.

Addressing the ongoing ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’ to “expose” the alleged “red terror” under the Left rule, she said the Communist party does not believe in democracy.

She alleged that 286 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPI(M) rule, among whom 84 were from Kannur district, the home town of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Ms Smriti Irani, the minister for information and broadcasting and textiles, also charged that the Communists have a history of helping “anti-nationals”.

During the India-China war of 1962, the Communists had sided with China, Ms Irani alleged.

Ms Smriti Irani said that the padyatra led by BJP’s state president Kummanom Raja-sekharan was to protect the values of democracy.

Ms Irani also said that Bharatiya Janata Party 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,” Ms Irani said.

Union minister of state for Human Resources Development Satyapal Singh, while addressing a padayatra meeting at Cherthala in neighbouring Mr Alappuzha, said that people across the world have rejected Communism.

“West Bengal has given up the CPI(M) and they are going to be defeated in Tripura also,” Mr Alappuzha said.

Mr Satyapal Singh said that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was focusing on the development of the country.

The ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’, launched by BJP president Amit Shah in Payyanoor in Kannur on October three, would end at Thiruvananthapuram on October 17.

BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to address a rally in the state capital Thir-uvanthapuram on culmination of the 15-day programme.