KOLLAM: Taking a dig at the two major fronts that have ruled Kerala, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called upon the people to let ‘lotus’ bloom across the state, which was steeped in corruption.He was addressing an election rally at Puttingal temple ground in Paravur here on Wednesday. “If it was solar scam during the Congress regime, it was dollar scam during the tenure of the Communists. The Communists and the Congress have together made Kerala a centre of corruption,” said Shah who pitched for a new Kerala under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Pinarayi does not like me when I talk about gold smuggling. But he cannot escape my questions: Is your principal secretary not involved in gold smuggling? Didn’t your office pay Rs 3 lakh to the accused in the case? Didn’t the main accused enter the house of the chief minister? Did your office not intervene to release the gold seized at the airport?” asked the union minister.
Stoking the Sabarimala issue, Shah asked the Pinarayi Vijayan government not to intervene in the matter of temples. “I am telling Vijayan Ji that the government should not interfere in the matter of temples,” said Shah.
Launching a scathing attack on Congress’ secularism, he asked why has the party entered in alliance with Muslim League, and joined hands with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. “I have never seen a party like this. Congress has a very paranoid leadership. The people of Kerala must ask Rahul Gandhi why his party is a rival to CPM in Kerala but a friend in Bengal. Only the BJP, led by Modi and E Sreedharan, can save Kerala,” said the minister.
Targeting the Wayanad MP, Shah said: “Ask Rahul Baba, who often comes for a picnic to his constituency, how much money his government had invested in Kerala. The Central Government has done a lot for Kerala.”The UPA government had allocated only Rs 45,390 crore to Kerala, while the Modi government has set aside Rs 1,34,848 crore, Shah said.