Kochi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress in Kerala launched a mega statewide protest on Friday aiming to puncture holes in the policies of the CPI(M)-led state government and the BJP-led union government.

Titled ‘Samaragni’, the statewide march was inaugurated by AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in the northernmost district of Kasaragod and will be jointly led by state Congress chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan. The yatra, which will travel through all 14 districts and culminate in Thiruvananthapuram on Feb 29, will see top leaders of the party addressing 30 public meetings including four major conventions in Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Apart from public meetings, Sudhakaran and Satheesan will also interact with people from all sections of the society to understand the pulse on the ground, party leaders said. The issues and public grievances emanating from these meetings will feature in the party’s election campaign as it takes on the CPI(M)-led LDF and the BJP-led NDA.

“The first objective of ‘Samaragni’ is to declare that the forces at the Centre which are trying to spew hate in society and divide people will be destroyed. Second, this protest is a charge sheet against the state government which over the last eight years has looted the state and committed corruption and financial mismanagement. We have realised that these two governments at the state and centre are two sides of the same coin. Both are trying to create communal polarisation in the state. While Sangh Parivar forces are trying to create polarisation at the national level, the Communists here are trying to reap benefits out of it,” said Satheesan at the inauguration rally.

Satheesan alleged that just like Russian Communist Joseph Stalin and Fascist leader Adolf Hitler made a pact during the Second World War, PM Narendra Modi and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan have also made a pact in the state.

“Fascism and Communism have undercurrents here in Kerala. Both forces are helping each other in corruption cases. That’s why probes by central agencies are stuck midway. We have to defeat both forces,” he added.

During the statewide protest march, the Congress is expected to get its chief ministers from other states like Siddaramaiah and Revanth Reddy and top national leaders like Priyanka Gandhi to address conventions in districts and get the cadre motivated for the parliamentary election campaign.

The Congress-led UDF aims to repeat its performance in the 2019 LS elections when it won 19 of the state’s 20 seats. It suffered defeat at the hands of the LDF only in Alappuzha. This time, the Congress is expected to contest in 16 seats while its allies IUML, Kerala Congress and RSP will be allocated 2, 1 and 1 seat respectively.