PATHANAMTHITTA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday kick-started the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign in Kerala, accusing both the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF of being two-faced, but refraining from announcing any poll-eve sops.
Speaking in Pathanamthitta, which houses the famous Sabarimala hill shrine, Modi began with the chant, “Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa”. He continued in Malayalam for two more sentences, reminding the audience that the BJP-led NDA was eyeing “over 400 seats this time” as thousands who had thronged the venue applauded in unison.
Accusing successive LDF and UDF governments in Kerala of “corruption and mismanagement”, he said both the fronts inflicted a heavy financial burden on the state. The law and order situation in the state is deteriorating with each day, the prime minister said, adding that even Christian priests are not spared from violence. “Rubber farmers are troubled. Many college campuses have become hotspots of communist violence. Women, youth and every section of society are living in fear and those in the state government are sleeping peacefully,” he said.
“In Kerala, the LDF and the UDF are apparently engaged in fighting each other. But they unite in Delhi. The Congress labels the Left government fascist, while the Communists criticise Congress for corruption. Yet, they join hands in the capital. Both parties have deceived Kerala. Kerala’s populace now sees through this deception,” Modi said.
People are well aware of the power games the Congress and Left parties have played, often to the detriment of their states, Modi said. Consequently, once these parties lose power, people prevent their return.
“The Congress last won elections in Tamil Nadu in 1962. Similarly, in UP, Gujarat and Bihar, it hasn’t won elections in the past four decades. In Odisha, Congress has been out of power for three decades,” said Modi.
LDF, UDF propagating outdated ideologies: Modi
“Many states in the country don’t even have a single Congress MP. In Tripura and Bengal, people have kept the Left parties away from government and power. The people of these states understand that the years they trusted Congress or the Left, their states suffered losses,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, and asked the voters to break the cycle of LDF and UDF governments in Kerala.
The people of Kerala are progressive and farsighted, but the LDF and the UDF are propagating outdated principles and ideologies.
“They even protested against the progressive initiatives such as the ban on triple talaq, appointment of an OBC Commission and the reservation for economically weaker sections,” Modi said.
Claiming that the LDF and the UDF are two sides of the same coin, Modi alleged that while the former indulged in gold loot the latter took to solar loot.
Besides NDA candidate from Pathanamthitta Anil Antony, the front’s nominees from southern constituencies Union minister V Muraleedharan, Sobha Surendran, Thushar Vellappally and Baiju Kalashala shared the dais with the prime minister.
The late Congress veteran K Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal, who joined the BJP recently, was also present.
