KASARGOD: The Congress-led UDF and the CPM-led LDF have alternately ‘ruled and ruined’ Kerala, and people of the state should decide if this ‘loot’ should continue, said senior BJP leader and Union minister Venkaiah Naidu. He was speaking after launching the BJP’s election campaign and state tour ‘Vimochana Yatra’ -- being led by state president Kummanam Rajasekharan -- at Uppala in Kasargod on Wednesday.Both the fronts were steeped in corruption, he said. “See how naked is the solar scam. In the bar scam, all the ministers are involved. We have to get rid of them,” Naidu said. ‘’There are notable exceptions such as A K Antony and V S Achuthanandan, but they are right people in corrupt parties,’’ he said.He accused the CPM and the Congress of indulging in dupe and cheat politics. “Cooperation in Delhi, operation in Thiruvananthapuram and separation in Bengal. You should ask what is this?” he said. The appeasement politics of the CPM and the Congress was taking the state backwards, he said. “The BJP has only one policy: appeasement of none; development of all,” he said and added the country believed in it. For the first time in the country’s history the BJP has 350 members of parliament, he said. “The party has the highest number of farmer MPs; highest number of OBC MPs; the highest number of MPs from scheduled caste and tribe communities; it has the highest number of women MPs; and the highest number of youth MPs. Why should Kerala lag behind?” he said.In the 18 months at the Centre, the Narendra Modi-led government has delivered a corruption-free fast-paced development in the country. “There is no allegation against any minister,” he said.
Naidu said the BJP was extending its reach across the length and breath of the country. “There is a BJP MP in Kanyakumari. Arunachal Pradesh in the east has one. In Nagaland, a 98% Christian state, the BJP is a partner in the government. In Jammu and Kashmir, the party will continue its alliance with the PDP to form the government,” he said and added that Kerala should also come closer to the BJP to join the development agenda of the party.
Senior leader O Rajagopal presided. Actor Suresh Gopi administered the “oath of liberation” to the participants of the campaign. The function was attended by Richard Hey, MP; Kerala Congress leader P C Thomas; Nalin Kumar Kateel MP, former presidents P S Sreedharan Pillai, P K Krishnadas, V Muraleedharan, and C K Padmanabhan.