Amit Shah to visit Kerala next month

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP president Amit Shah would visit Kerala next month to discuss matters relating to expanding the party-led NDA in the state, a senior leader said today.

BJP is ready to hold talks with any political outfit that accept the NDA's policies, the party's Kerala president Kummanom Rajasekharan told reporters after a meeting of party leaders and MPs here.

Rajasekharan said a delegation of BJP MPs would visit Munnar in highrange Idukki district on May 14 where the recent move to remove encroachments on government land triggered a controversy.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of BJP members held here, he said.

The delegation would submit a fact-finding report on the encroachments and its effect on environment to Centre. The objective of the visit is to seek "Centre's intervention" on the Munnar encroachment issue, he said.

The delegation would include Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi, Kerala NDA Vice Chairman Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, and former union minister and MLA, O Rajagopal, he said.

He alleged that successive governments of LDF and UDF had abetted encroachments in Munnar during their rule.

Asked about the possibility of Kerala Congress (M) led by former Finance Minister K M Mani joining NDA, Rajasekharan said: "first let them come out with their stand."

KC-M after snapping its three-decades old ties with Congress-led UDF last year was keeping equidistantance from both UDF and LDF.

Its relation with UDF soured recently after it joined hands with CPI-M to wrest the Kottayam District Panchayat administration from Congress control

Referring to the all party meet held by the government to discuss the eviction drive, Rajasekharan said the meeting should have discussed matters related to providing land to landless and not for removing encroachments.

Rajasekharan said the state government has failed to implement welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and accused the state government of not spending funds allotted by the Centre.