Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 6 (PTI) Public campaigning for the April 9 Kerala Assembly polls will end on Tuesday. Congress, the BJP, and the ruling LDF have intensified attacks on each other, while the LDF released a progress report claiming it has fulfilled 97 per cent of its 2021 promises.
A total of 2.71 crore voters, including 1.32 crore men, 1.39 crore women and 273 transgender persons, along with over 2.42 lakh overseas voters, are eligible to cast their ballots, according to the figures provided by the Election Commission.
The election will decide the fate of 890 candidates contesting for 140 seats, after a campaign marked by sharp exchanges over issues including Congress allegations of a “deal” between the CPI(M) and the BJP and claims of mismanagement of funds collected by the Congress for housing landslide victims in Wayanad.
The massive landslides in 2024 claimed more than 200 lives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held multiple rallies and roadshows for NDA candidates in the state, which has long been dominated by the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF.
As the countdown begins for the crucial polls, top national leaders of the BJP, including Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, intensified their campaign in the state on Monday.
The ruling LDF’s campaign was led by CPI(M) veteran and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Earlier in the day, Shah held a massive roadshow for BJP candidate Sandeep Vachaspati in Haripad, the home turf of senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who has been renominated from the constituency in the coastal district of Alappuzha.
Rahul and Priyanka addressed separate campaign meetings for candidates of the Congress-led alliance in Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kannur districts, alleging a “deal” between the BJP and the CPI(M) to defeat the Congress-led UDF.
“There is a hidden hand helping the LDF against the UDF,” Rahul alleged at a campaign meeting in Mala in Thrissur.
He also termed Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Vijayan as “arrogant”, alleging that they have a mindset of ruling over people rather than working with them.
Addressing a corner meeting in Christian-dominated Peravoor in Kannur district, Priyanka alleged that the LDF had made a deal with the BJP, which she said “harasses” minorities, especially the Christian community and nuns.
She also raised the Sabarimala gold theft, alleging that the PM’s silence suggested a “political understanding”.
Priyanka further alleged that those who speak against the PM face cases by agencies such as the CBI, ED or Income Tax Department, while no such case exists against the CM.
The row over relief funds for housing landslide-hit residents of Wayanad has emerged as a major poll issue, putting the Congress on the defensive.
The CPI(M) has questioned the collection and use of funds, while the Congress’s response, presented by its state chief Sunny Joseph, has drawn criticism and further fuelled the controversy.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M)-led LDF released its progress report in Kannur, with Vijayan claiming that around 97 per cent of the promises made in 2021 had been fulfilled.
Releasing the report, he said, people have the right to know the extent to which election promises have been implemented.
Vijayan said that of the 900 promises made in the 2021 manifesto, around 97 per cent had either been fulfilled or reached an effective stage of implementation.
He added that five lakh houses had been completed under the LIFE Mission to realise the dream of housing for ordinary people.
Mocking the claim, Congress leader V D Satheesan said the report had been reduced from 328 pages to 24 pages and misrepresented housing achievements.
He alleged that while the government claims to have built five lakh houses in 10 years, the actual figure is closer to 4.5 lakh, with some houses from the previous administration included in the count.
Satheesan claimed that the report hides the fact that the Oommen Chandy government had achieved nearly five lakh houses in just five years.
The Congress has alleged a tacit understanding between the CPI(M) and the Social Democratic Party of India—the political arm of the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI)—in parts of Kerala, claiming indirect electoral support, a charge denied by the CPI(M).
Heading the BJP campaign in the state, party leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that Congress is functioning under the “remote control” of the Indian Union Muslim League.
He claimed there was a “political deal” between the two parties, with Congress no longer taking independent decisions and compromising its stand for vote-bank politics.
He also dismissed any possibility of a BJP-CPI(M) understanding, asserting that the BJP remains the only party “exposing” the Left. PTI TGB SSK
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