Protesting against alleged loot of the cooperative banks in Kerala, the BJP, on Monday, embarked on a padayatra (foot march) under the leadership of actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi.
The padayatra, which set off from Karuvannur, culminated at the Thrissur Municipal Corporation office of the Trissur district after covering 18 km.
BJP Kerala president K Sudhakaran flagged off the march.
Victims of the fraud and family members of those who committed suicide in the wake of the Karuvannur co-operative bank fraud joined the padayatra. The march set off after offering paying floral tributes at the pictures of suicide victims and those who died without getting back their deposits.
Addressing the marchers, Gopi said the protest march was dedicated to the victims of the notorious bank scam. There is no politics in the march as it is purely a humanitarian struggle.
“We are not at war nor are we at a war front. We are for the poor investors who lost their life savings. I don’t stand here excited at all. Only human consideration has brought me here. Co-operative banks should exist till the blood money of the poor is returned. We don’t allow closure of cooperative banks, purification is necessary in the cooperative sector,” he said.
Suresh Gopi further said that the padayatra in Karuvannur was only a beginning and the march would spread to Kannur, Kandala, Malappuram and Mavelikkara.
BJP state president K Surendran, in his address, said the five lives lost due to the bank scam could have been saved had the Central directives for the cooperative sector had been followed.
RBI’s proposal was to link cooperative banks of all states with single software. The Kerala government rejected the proposal and as a result the poor depositors had to pay a price, he said.