BJP National President Amit Shah held a roadshow in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta to campaign for NDA candidate K Surendran on Saturday. Shah began his roadshow from the Pathanamthitta General Hospital. He was accompanied by State President PS Sreedharan Pillai and Poonjar MLA PC George during his campaign.
During the roadshow, Shah in his speech brought up Sabarimala and lashed out against the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the state, according to a report in The Hindu. Campaigning for K Surendran, Shah called his candidature a ‘mission’ to protect the rights of the devotees. He also said that Surendran ‘represented all devotees’. Shah also added that the communist government’s ‘atrocities,’ where over 5000 protestors were arrested, could not be forgiven.
“Only 2000 of them could get bail till now and the others are still in jail. This could never be a forgivable thing,” the BJP National President said.
Amit Shah also added that if voted to power, the BJP will ensure that the Sabarimala pilgrimage is conducted trouble free for devotees.
Earlier, Kerala chief electoral officer Teeka Ram Meena had specifically stated that candidates openly asking for votes based on the religious aspect of the Sabarimala issue will be violating the Model Code of Conduct. Meena had even lauded PM Modi for not using the word ‘Sabarimala’ in his campaign in Kozhikode last week.
Apart from PC George and Sreedharan Pillai, Amit Shah’s election campaign on Saturday was also attended by Bharat Jana Dharma Sena President, A Padmakumar, cricketer Sreesanth and Telugu actor Kaushik Babu.