‘CPI(M) actions hampering development in North Malabar’

Politics of violence growing in region, says BJP president

BJP State president K. Surendran on Monday said that politics of violence that the CPI(M) pursued was the reason for the lack of development in North Malabar.

Speaking at a reception held at Payyanur during the Vijaya Yatra being taken out by him, he said the fact that a government lawyer was appearing for the accused in the killing of Vinod, the Yuva Morcha activist in Payyanur, showed that the murder was sponsored by the government.

Kannur had become the breeding ground for terrorists too, he said.

The CPI(M), which once opposed communal forces, was now appeasing them. There was violent politics on the one hand and terrorism on the other. Mr. Surendran said only the BJP could defeat both. The Congress would not be able to counter the CPI(M) and that was why senior Congress leaders such as Sreedharan Poduval were joining the BJP, he said.

Former State president C.K. Padmanabhan, State general secretary George Kurian, vice presidents Dr. Prameela Devi, Sadanandan Master, and P. Sudarshanan spoke.

Sabarimala issue

Earlier, speaking to the media in Kannur, Mr. Surendran said that the CPI and the government should clarify their stand on C. Divakaran’s statement that it was a mistake to help two women to enter the Sabarimala shrine.

The CPI(M) should be prepared to apologise to believers, as Mr. Divakaran had publicly admitted that the government and the Chief Minister had brought the women to the shrine.

Mr. Surendran said the BJP had earlier said that it was the government that had brought all the anarchists to Sabarimala. “The government is deceiving the people by not admitting that what it had done was wrong,” he said.

During the Sabarimala agitation, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had maintained silence. Mr. Chandy had said that the Sangh Parivar should end the violence when the believers were being hunted down. Believers would never forget this, he said.

On the issue of deep sea fishing, Mr. Surendran said when matters involved national security, agreements with foreign companies must be signed with the approval of the Centre. But here, the agreement was signed as per the decision of the Chief Minister.

The foreign trips of Ministers and the Speaker were all mysterious, he said, pointing out that the Speaker had visited Dubai 21 times.

“We need to find out why he went. All contracts, including deep-sea fishing, were signed abroad. Investigate the illegal assets of the Chief Minister and Ministers of Kerala,” he demanded and said that all Ministers must declare their real assets before the Assembly elections.

Former State president Kummanam Rajasekharan and district president K. Sreekanth were present at the press conference.