Kicking off the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Lok Sabha election campaign in Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on March 15 (Friday) expressed confidence that “the lotus is going to bloom in Kerala in this Lok Sabha elections.”
He urged the voters to break the cycle of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) forming governments in order to “save Kerala from its current slide.”
Addressing a massive public event in Pathanamthitta, Mr. Modi assessed that the BJP was going to open its account in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “The BJP, which won a two-digit vote percentage here last time, will open its account in the State,” he said, adding that the NDA was slated to win over 400 seats at the Centre.
“When the BJP government comes to power, it is going to need MPs in Kerala who will reflect your feelings to the government, and this, in turn, will be helpful in bringing development to the State. Modi will never turn a blind eye towards your needs. That’s Modi’s guarantee,” he said to a loud round of applause.
Further, he accused the LDF and the UDF of unleashing a reign of terror and violence in the State.
“Things in this State have come to such a pass that even the priest of a church was subjected to violence. Several college campuses in the State have become hotspots of communist violence. Women and children in the State are living in constant fear, but the government in power appears to be sleeping,” he said.
Mr. Modi also accused successive governments in the State of turning a blind eye towards the plight of rubber growers in Kerala.
While the people of Kerala have been progressive and farsighted, the Congress and the Left parties follow outdated principles and ideologies, he said.
“This is why they even raised objections to progressive initiatives such as the ban on triple talaq, appointment of an OBC Commission, and reservation for economically weaker sections,” Mr. Modi said.
‘Two sides of a coin’
The UDF and the LDF, according to him, were “two sides of a coin” engaged in corruption and loot. “If the LDF is conducting this loot through gold, the UDF has done it in the form of solar energy,” he said in a veiled reference to the diplomatic gold smuggling case and the solar scams.
Highlighting the “dichotomy” of the LDF and the UDF fighting each other at the State level and joining hands at the Centre, he urged the people to “root out” the Congress and the Left parties as in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, or Uttar Pradesh.
He also elaborated on the Keralite diaspora, especially in the Gulf countries, and held that the trade pact India has signed with the UAE was going to benefit Keralites there in a big way.
Mr. Modi reached the programme venue in the town at 2:20 p.m., and the function ended at 3:10 p.m.
BJP State president K. Surendran, in his welcome speech, hailed the Union government’s decision to introduce ₹5 as an exporting subsidy for natural rubber.
NDA candidates in Kerala, including Union Minister V. Muraleedharan (Attingal), Baiju Kalasala (Mavelikara), Anil K. Antony (Pathanamthitta) and Sobha Surendran (Alappuzha) were among those present, apart from senior BJP functionaries.
Over a lakh BJP workers, primarily from the Pathanamthitta and Mavelikara constituencies, attended the programme.
