BJP alleges security, intelligence lapses during Amit Shah's Keralam visit

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP national secretary K Surendran on Monday alleged a serious security lapse and intelligence failure during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Keralam, when Youth Congress activists showed him black flags.

On September 26, Youth Congress leaders staged a black flag protest when Shah's convoy was proceeding from Kollam to Kundara. Shah was in Kollam district to attend multiple events.

"There was a very serious lapse in connection with the Union Home Minister's visit. There was an attempt to obstruct his convoy," Surendran told reporters here.


"It is very clear that the police could neither anticipate the protest nor take the necessary precautions," he alleged.

Shah was not provided proper security and there was an intelligence failure, Surendran alleged, saying the black flag protest took place while the police watched.

He criticised the Keralam Police for claiming that there was no lapse, saying it was merely repeating the stand of its "political masters".

"If there was no lapse, why did Chief Minister V D Satheesan ask another member of his cabinet to remove the video related to this?" Surendran asked.

He was referring to media reports that Sports Minister and Youth Congress leader O J Janeesh had removed the video of the protest against Shah from his social media handle after being directed by Satheesan.

Surendran alleged that the Keralam Police had failed to take the black flag protest against the Union Home Minister seriously and demanded that CM Satheesan and Minister Ramesh Chennithala clarify their stand on the issue.

"The protest was deliberate," he alleged.

Surendran also warned that Yuva Morcha activists would waylay Keralam ministers in the coming days.

His remarks came a day after the BJP's Kollam district committee took out a protest march to the Collectorate against the alleged security breach during Shah's visit, when Youth Congress activists showed him black flags.

The BJP leadership had alleged that circumstances were created for the Youth Congress activists to show black flags to Shah.

They claimed there was dereliction of duty on the part of the local administration and a conspiracy to disrupt Shah's programmes, and demanded a high-level investigation into the alleged security breach.

After the Youth Congress's black flag protests against Amit Shah, the workers of Yuva Morcha, the BJP's youth wing, waylaid and waved black flags at several Keralam ministers, including Satheesan and Chennithala.