The Bharatiya Janata Party’s three-day Janaraksha Yatra has on Thursday reached Pinarayi, the native village of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The three-day footmarch that began on Tuesday is led by party’s State head Kummanam Rajashekharan. However, BJP national president Amit Shah skipped the yatra stretch from Mambaram to Thalassery via Pinarayi.
A poster of the CPI (M) on the road side near Pinarayi in Kannur. The foot march passes through this route.
Though Mr. Shah was scheduled to re-join the yatra on Thursday, party leaders said it was cancelled since the BJP chief has to attend “unavoidable meetings in New Delhi.”
Mr. Rajashekharan said Mr. Shah's presence in the yatra was not required to offer resistance to CPI(M) workers of Pinarayi village. The BJP State president and party workers in the State are adequate to face them, he added.
Most shops remained closed when the yatra reached Pinarayi.
Mr. Rajashekharan, along with BJP leaders paid visit to the house of slain RSS worker Remith at Pinarayi. Remith was hacked to death allegedly by CPI(M) workers in October last year.
