Kerala govt 'sleeping' over "love jihad": Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday slammed the Left frontgovernment in Kerala for allegedly not taking any constructivesteps to stop ''love jihad'' in the state.

Though the Kerala High Court had made remarks againstlove jihad in 2009, the state government had done nothing sofar to check it, he claimed here.

However, his (Uttar Pradesh) government had brought outlegislation to regulate ''love jihad'' and forceful conversions,Yogi said after inaugurating the state-wide ''Vijay Yatra'' ledby BJP state unit president K Surendran ahead of the stateassembly elections expected to be held in April-May.

''In 2009, the Kerala High Court had said the love jihadwould turn Kerala into an Islamic state. Despite this, thestate government is sleeping,'' the UP CM alleged.

''Love Jihad'' is a term used by right wing activists torefer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girlsto convert in the guise of love.

BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have recentlybrought religious freedom laws to stop conversion throughmarriage or by any other fraudulent means.

Adityanath also criticised the Kerala government over theincreasing COVID-19 positive cases and claimed that his statehad effectively tackled the pandemic.

The 15-day-Vijay Yatra, covering all major constituenciesin 14 districts, is seen as the official launch of the saffronparty's poll campaign.

Various union ministers and the saffron party's popularleaders and star campaigners at the national level areexpected to join theyatrain variousdays.

Union Minister Amit Shah is expected to inaugurate thefinale of the yatra at the state capital on March 7, partysources said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)