In his maiden public address in Kerala, BJP national president Amit Shah on Friday urged the party workers to strive to achieve a Communist-free, Congress-free Kerala. Shah was in Palakkad, where BJP has considerable sway in the municipality, to review the membership campaign and work out strategies for the coming elections for the local bodies. Addressing a large crowd of BJP workers, Shah said "time was ripe for a political transformation in Kerala. The day in which Kerala joins the national mainstream politics, shunning Congress and CPI (M), is not far away. The alternative rule of Congress and CPI (M) in every five years has ruined the state. BJP is committed for the development of Kerala," he said. Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-election call for a Congress-free India, Shah said ``in Kerala we should take the pledge to achieve a Congress-free, CPI (M)-free state. In the last LS elections, BJP’s vote share in Kerala had been 11 per cent. In the two bypolls held to local bodies, the vote share had risen to 21 per cent. Now, the party should try to present a powerful show in the coming elections to the local bodies,’’ he said. Reiterating the party agenda for increasing the membership in Kerala, Shah said we have taken a decision to make BJP members in 35 lakh families in the state.
