KOCHI: The voters in Wayanad constituency will only get to see helicopters if they elect Congress president Rahul Gandhi as their MP, said Union Minister and BJP candidate for Ernakulam Alphons Kannanthanam here on Saturday.
“Rahul makes an aerial tour of his constituency in Amethi once in a while. This grabs headlines as he rarely visits his constituency. People in Kerala prefer representatives who mingle and stay with them in the constituency. If they elect Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad, they will rarely get an opportunity to see their leader,” he told media persons.
Exuding confidence about his victory in Ernakulam, Kannanthanam said he has compiled a list of initiatives to develop Ernakulam as a world hub of tourism and IT industry. Social media users have put forth around 600 suggestions, which include steps to make Kochi a clean and smart city, rid it from mosquito menace, extending the Metro Rail, development of backwater tourism and water transport facilities, improve roads among others. Lambasting trollers who were trying to portray him as a ‘fool’, Kannanthanam said throughout his life he has endeavoured to be the voice of the voiceless. “I had asked trollers to create memes on development to which no one has responded. This reveals their true intention,” he said.
On Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s criticism against the Prime Minister, Kannanthanam said the NDA government has been benevolent to Kerala. “Whenever Pinarayi visited the Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari, he returned a happy man and told me on multiple occasions that Gadkari sanctioned whatever he demanded. Then how could the CM state that Modi had nursed a grudge against the state,” he asked.
Two former chief priests of Sabarimala temple Ezhikode Sasi Namboothiri and Edavana Damodaran Potti met Kannanthanam and blessed him for his victory in the Lok Sabha election.They said it was only BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi which stood with the devotees when the government tried to violate the practices and customs of the temple.