Kozhikode: Attacking the UDF and LDF for corruption and underdevelopment in Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the BJP-led NDA’s campaign for the upcoming assembly polls at the party’s first public meeting ahead of the elections.
Addressing BJP cadre and the public in Thiruvananthapuram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his speech by expressing happiness over the party’s victory in wresting control of the crucial Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, saying the party’s journey in Gujarat had started with victory in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in 1987.
“In Gujarat, the rule started in one city. Similarly, in Kerala, the journey begins from a city. I know that Kerala has started to trust the BJP,” PM Modi said. During the campaign for the local body polls held in December, the BJP had promised that Modi would visit the state capital if the party won.
He said both LDF and UDF had done injustice to the state capital, which would change with BJP rule, as the party would focus on development. PM Modi said the upcoming assembly elections would define the state’s future. He went on to say that underdevelopment in the Kerala was the result of the rule of the Left and the Congress.
He said both the Left and Congress, though their symbols are different, are the same in their lack of responsibility, communalism and corruption, which has resulted in the situation remaining the same in the state.
“Both the Congress and Left, which ruled the state alternately, have ruined the state. But from now on, there is a third front. It’s one of development. It’s NDA,” PM Modi said, adding that a BJP government would be a government for the people.
Drawing on examples of Tripura and West Bengal, where the Left lost its foothold, and the BJP grew, PM Modi said this had not happened in Kerala due to the understanding between the Congress and the Left. He said only the end of this understanding would help the state improve.
He said the Kerala government was working to halt central government schemes. The Left government had halted the second stage of the PM Awas Yojana and also stopped the PM-SHRI scheme, which is devoted to the development of government schools, he said. The state needed a double-engine government to benefit from all central government schemes, the PM added.
Modi also pointed to the Sabarimala gold theft, saying that his guarantee would ensure all those behind the scandal would be put behind bars when the NDA formed the government.
He also attacked the Congress, alleging that the party had become the “Muslim League Maoist Congress” instead of the Indian National Congress, and Kerala should be saved from communal and Muslim League politics.
“It’s time to have a developed Kerala. For that, it needs a change. If the state has to become developed in the next 25 years, it needs a sharp change. This is the right time to bring change with the NDA government,” he said.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Kerala should question how the Social Democratic Party of India and the Jamaat-e-Islami were able to grow under the Congress and Left regimes.
“It’s a crucial election that will define the future of the state and its people. We need to think about what the state has now after the alternate rule of the Congress and the Left. Kerala has a high rate of unemployment and inflation. It is a state of corruption and the Sabarimala scandal. We need to think about our future. We need a developed state, we need protection. Only the NDA can do that,” Chandrasekhar said.
Inauguration of development initiatives
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister inaugurated various projects, including three new Amrit Bharat Express trains—Thiruvananthapuram Central-Tambaram, Thiruvananthapuram North-Charlapalli and Nagercoil Junction-Mangaluru Junction services—along with the introduction of a new passenger train between Thrissur and Guruvayur.
Inaugurating the trains, Modi said the Kerala’s rail connectivity was receiving a major boost due to the new services.
“Today, the Centre’s efforts towards the development of Kerala have received a new impetus. Starting today, Kerala’s rail connectivity has been further strengthened. To make Thiruvananthapuram a major startup hub of the country, significant efforts have been made,” he said.
During the event, the Prime Minister also launched the PM SVANidhi Credit Card, designed to benefit street vendors, hawkers and those working on footpaths across the country.
The Prime Minister also highlighted that over four crore houses have been built nationwide under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), with nearly 1.25 lakh beneficiaries in Kerala.
He also laid the foundation stones for the CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub in Thiruvananthapuram and for a radiosurgery centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, aimed at strengthening science, innovation, and advanced healthcare in Kerala.
Thanking the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said concern and goodwill would continue to be shown to Kerala in times to come.
“I do hope that the genuine demands of Kerala relating to various other fields will also be met in due course, and the Honourable Prime Minister will see to it that all these are implemented in a time-bound manner,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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