50 people belonging to minority communities join BJP

Nearly 50 persons belonging to minority communities joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of the ‘couple campaign’ organised by the State unit of the Minority Morcha in Ernakulam on Monday.

Those who joined the party included V.A. James, mandalam president of the Kerala Congress (M) and James Mathew, former mandalam president, said a release issued here. K.V. Haridas, State spokesperson of the BJP, said that the campaign aims to bring in more families from the minority communities into the party fold.

The release quoted those who joined the party as alleging that the Left and United fronts had maintained a silence over the case registered against youth for laying a floral carpet (pookkalam) with the theme “Operation Sindoor” along with a floral design showing a saffron flag on the main road leading to Sri Parthasarathy Temple in Kollam district. They claimed that the development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s consideration for minorities prompted them to join the BJP.