Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the tone for the electoral battle of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala by making a frontal attack on both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front in the State.
Speaking at Yuvam 2023, a youth conclave organised by the party in Kochi, Mr. Modi said some were busy smuggling gold to the country even as the BJP government at the Centre was exporting Ayurvedic drugs and such products from Kerala.
The youth of the State were desperate to free the State from the two ideologies that had been dominating the political scape for decades. While one ideology placed the political party over the interests of the State, the other was placing the interest of a family over the interests of the State. The youth of Kerala, who have realised that both ideologies were playing with their future, would renounce both ideologies, Mr. Modi said.
Referring to the electoral victory of the BJP in north-eastern States and Goa, Mr. Modi exuded confidence that the party would be able to make inroads in Kerala too. These States have Christians in sizable numbers like Kerala, where the party is making all-out efforts to woo Christian voters. The party is also making efforts to mend ties with Christian community leaders, with a few top priests meeting the Prime Minister here.
Mr. Modi alleged that the State government was not keen on providing employment to the youth and had not organised any employment fair for them even as the Centre had created hundreds of job opportunities and held employment fairs through which permanent government jobs had been provided.
Listing out achievements of the BJP government at the Centre, Mr. Modi wanted the youth to take up the leadership mantle.
The party brought on stage a few prominent youth achievers, including national award-winning actress Aparna Balamurali and Navya Nair, Anil Antony, actor Unni Mukundan, Yuva Morcha leader Tejasvisurya and Vijay Yesudas.
Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, BJP leaders Prakash Javadekar, Radha Mohan Agarwal, Suresh Gopi, K. Surendran, and Praful Krishna attended.
A few national award laureates including C.I. Isaac, Cheruvayal Raman, Shoshamma Iype, SRD Prasad, and V.S. Priya also attended.
