Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah addresses a public meeting in Kozhikode, Kerala. Excerpts from his speech:

-Kozhikode is a sacred place for the BJP as this is the city where in 1967, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was elected as the Jana Sangh president.

-From 1967 to 2016, in these 50 years, the popularity of the BJP has immensely increased in Kerala. And we will form a government in the state after next assembly polls.

-Uplifting the poor has been our mantra always.

-I thank the people of Kerala for giving us 15 per cent votes in the last elections.

-Since the BJP and RSS have started working in Kerala, there has been spate of attacks on our workers. Some of the attacks were state-sponsored. The Kerala government is penalising people of those areas who voted for the BJP.

-The BJP workers will not be deterred by such violence, and will seek to punish -- by democratic means -- the forces behind these attacks.