Grand welcome to Jan Chetna Yatra in Kerala

The anti-corruption Jan Chetna Yatra being led by senior BJP leader LK Advani was given a rousing welcome to God’s Own Country by several State party leaders and hundreds of workers at Aryankavu on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on Friday evening.

The Yatra reached Thiruvananthapuram where he was to address a public meeting at Putharikkandam Grounds, the first of his six public meetings in Kerala, at about 9.45 pm. The Yatra had entered Kerala about two hours behind schedule due to route re-arrangement necessitated by the recovery of a pipe bomb from under a culvert near Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

Kerala BJP president V Muraleedharan, former State chiefs PK Krishnadas, PS Sreedharan Pillai and CK Padmanabhan and former Union minister O Rajagopal and other leaders were present at Aryankavu to welcome Advani and his companions. He was being accompanied by senior BJP leaders Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Muralidhar Rao, among others.

Advani’s Yatra was delayed by two hours in reaching Kerala mainly due to the security concerns caused by the recovery of a powerful pipe bomb from under a culvert at Alampatty near Thirumangalam, some 30 km away from Madurai. The security arrangements for the Yatra and Advani were enhanced after this.

Following the incident, the Yatra was re-routed through Virudhunagar and Sivakasi instead of the pre-planned route to reach Sreevilliputhur and Sengottai in Tamil Nadu. However, a BJP leader said that Advani remained as enthusiastic about his mission as earlier and that the incident had not caused any particular worries.

Confusion occurred in the security set-up arranged for Advani in Kerala just before the Yatra entered the State due to an unscheduled protest demonstration by CPI(M) workers at Kulathuppuzha in Kollam district. The activists were protesting against State Forest Minister KB Ganesh Kumar for his outrageous statements against Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan.

After addressing a Press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday morning, Advani would proceed to Kochi to address public meetings at Kottarakkara in Kollam district, Pandalam in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Cherthala in Alappuzha district. His last public programme in Kerala would be at Kochi on Saturday evening.

The Jan Chetna Yatra in Kerala was focusing on the “partnership” between the Congress-led ruling UDF and the CPI(M)-headed Opposition LDF in corruption. Advani would fly out from Kochi to Mangalore on Sunday morning while the vehicles accompanying him would leave for Mangalore on Saturday itself.

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