Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday addressed BJP workers in Kerala after the party went on a hartal in the state, following the death of a man who died after attempting self-immolation near the party’s Sabarimala protest venue in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday addressed BJP workers in Kerala after the party went on a hartal in the state, following the death of a man who died after attempting self-immolation near the party’s Sabarimala protest venue in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Slamming the Left government in the state, Modi said “In Kerala, there are two governance models currently. The Congress model and the Communist model. Both models are models of efficient corruption and inefficient governance.”
BJP leaders and workers claimed that the man shouted ‘Ayyappa, Ayyappa’ as he rushed towards the party’s protest venue, and called for a bandh, the fourth time since November. The police, however, have termed the incident as suicide and ruled out having any relation to the protest. The state unit of the BJP is protesting against the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, and police action against protesting devotees.
Citing the incident, Modi said it has forced the party to call for a bandh in the state and urged protesters to “avoid taking any extreme step. Whatever points we have, we should express them firmly and convince the people about them,” ANI quoted him as saying.
This is the fourth bandh to be invoked by the BJP in the state since the Sabarimala temple opened for the annual ‘Mandalam-Makaravilakku’ pilgrimage in November.
On November 2, the party observed a 12-hour bandh in Pathanamthitta district after an alleged Ayyappa pilgrim was found dead in Nilakkal, one of the base camps of the pilgrimage. On November 17, a state-wide bandh was called by the saffron party to protest the arrest and detention of KP Sasikala, a firebrand leader of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, a fringe Hindu outfit. On November 11, Thiruvananthapuram district underwent a 12-hour hartal following violent Yuva Morcha clashes with the police over the temple agitation.
Slamming the Left government in the state, Modi said “In Kerala, there are two governance models currently. The Congress model and the Communist model. Both models are models of efficient corruption and inefficient governance.”
BJP leaders and workers claimed that the man shouted ‘Ayyappa, Ayyappa’ as he rushed towards the party’s protest venue, and called for a bandh, the fourth time since November. The police, however, have termed the incident as suicide and ruled out having any relation to the protest. The state unit of the BJP is protesting against the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, and police action against protesting devotees.
Citing the incident, Modi said it has forced the party to call for a bandh in the state and urged protesters to “avoid taking any extreme step. Whatever points we have, we should express them firmly and convince the people about them,” ANI quoted him as saying.
This is the fourth bandh to be invoked by the BJP in the state since the Sabarimala temple opened for the annual ‘Mandalam-Makaravilakku’ pilgrimage in November.
On November 2, the party observed a 12-hour bandh in Pathanamthitta district after an alleged Ayyappa pilgrim was found dead in Nilakkal, one of the base camps of the pilgrimage. On November 17, a state-wide bandh was called by the saffron party to protest the arrest and detention of KP Sasikala, a firebrand leader of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, a fringe Hindu outfit. On November 11, Thiruvananthapuram district underwent a 12-hour hartal following violent Yuva Morcha clashes with the police over the temple agitation.