Three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were attacked by suspected Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers in Neeleswaram town in Kasargod district of Kerala, the police said. The attack last night came ahead of the launch of ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’ yesterday by the BJP. The attack took place around 9:30 pm when BJP workers were decorating a part of the National Highway-66 for the 15-day march, which will be launched by BJP chief Amit Shah.

The three injured BJP workers were being treated at a private hospital in Neeleswaram, the police said. No case has been registered in connection with the incident so far.

Shah will kick off the ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’ (people’s protection march) from Payyannur in Kannur, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s hometown, and it will wind through the state before ending in Thiruvananthapuram on 17 October. Several union ministers will also participate in the march. Shah will be in Kerala for three days during which he will also take part in several organisational exercises and hold public meetings.

The BJP has said that as many as 120 BJP workers, 84 in Kannur alone, have been killed in the state since 2001 with 14 of them in the Chief Minister’s hometown since he took the reigns last year.

Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Smriti Irani, Giriraj Singh, V K Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan besides Javadekar among others would attend the march. At least one Union Minister would be present on each day of the march, and some BJP chief ministers might also turn up.

The march is being seen as the BJP’s push to emerge as a potent force in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha poll in 2019. (PTI)