KOCHI: Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday expressed confidence that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) would return to power in Kerala with a “thumping majority” in the upcoming Assembly elections, replicating its performance in the local body polls.
“I am confident that you will stand together and win a thumping majority in the Assembly elections,” Rahul said while addressing around 13,000 Congress workers who contested the December local body elections, including both winners and those who lost.
He said the UDF would repeat its local body poll performance with a thumping victory in the Assembly polls and added that the forthcoming Assembly and local body elections would send out a clear message that Kerala’s voice is “clear and loud”.
Rahul was inaugurating the KPCC’s ‘Mahapanchayat’, organised to felicitate party representatives who contested in the recent local body elections. He said Kerala was witnessing a political contest, even as the country faced a larger political and ideological battle.
Targeting the BJP and the RSS, Rahul alleged that they stood for centralisation of power, while the Congress believed in decentralisation.
“They want compliance from the people of India. They don’t want to hear the voice of the people,” he said, adding that their ideological attack was aimed at creating a “culture of silence” and concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few. “I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that nobody can silence the voice of the people of Kerala,” he said.
Rahul also praised Kerala’s political culture and the calibre of its panchayat presidents. “I don’t think there are panchayat presidents of this quality in any other state,” he said, urging newly elected representatives to protect the trust placed in them by voters and to uphold the Constitution.
He also asked the party leadership to address unemployment in the state. “For any government to succeed, the leadership needs to be accessible to the people… humble and merge with the people of Kerala,” he said.
KPCC president Sunny Joseph, Kerala LoP V D Satheesan, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, K Sudhakaran, Ramesh Chennithala, Kodikunnil Suresh MP, Shashi Tharoor MP and Shanimol Usman also spoke at the event.