Palakkad (Kerala) [India], March 29 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched an all-out attack against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), accusing them of "looting" the state for decades by allegedly sharing the spoils.
He also slammed the Congress and the Communists
Addressing a public rally in Palakkad, PM Modi said, "The LDF and UDF have looted Kerala for decades by sharing the spoils; there has been an understanding between them that for some years the LDF will run the government and fill their pockets, then after a few years the UDF will loot. Our Kerala has gotten entangled in this alliance of theirs. These days, the communists and Congress have joined hands to start a new propaganda, where the Communists say that Congress is the B team of the BJP, and Congress says that the Communists are the B team of the BJP".
"They too have now accepted that in this Kerala election, if there is any one team--the 'A' team--it is only the BJP."
Targeting the INDIA bloc, the Prime Minister said, "Today, the truth about who is whose B-team in the upcoming elections needs to be revealed to the people of Kerala. They are in an alliance with each other across the country. Look at Bihar, look at Jharkhand, look at Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Assam. They are together in the INDI alliance; even in Tamil Nadu, they are in alliance. But here in Kerala, the Congress and the Left parties are abusing each other. That's why you should be careful about both of them," said the Prime Minister.
Modi further claimed that despite alleged scams over the years, neither side has taken action against the other, and vowed that a BJP-led government would investigate such matters in case the party is voted to power.
"They fear the BJP because they believe that if the BJP comes to power, the truth about all their misdeeds will be revealed today. For decades, LDF-UDF have done huge scams here, but the governments of these parties have never taken action against each other... If the BJP government comes to power, it will investigate the scandals of the LDF and UDF and provide justice to the people of Kerala. That's why these two are not able to sleep," said PM Modi.
He also expressed confidence about the NDA forming the government in the upcoming Kerala assembly elections.
"In Keralam, the team BJP and NDA are on the ground to form the government. With the blessings of the people of Keralam, we will form the government here. NDA's target is to fulfil the dreams of the people of Keralam. We have provided 5x the budget to Keralam in comparison to what Congress used to give when they were in power in the Centre," said PM Modi.
PM Modi also highlighted the alleged debt crisis of Kerala and pointed out that Kerala's debt has more than tripled in two years to over Rs 5 lakh crore
"The Kerala government is now burdened with a debt of over Rs 5 lakh crore. This debt has more than tripled in two years. The people of Kerala are asking, "What is the share of this money earned by the people?" The answer is the same. When the NDA government comes to power, this money will go into the pockets of our own people, and will be used for the development of the people of Keralam... For the last 10 years, no new industrial project has been started to provide employment to the people of the state," said PM Modi.
This public meeting comes ahead of Kerala Assembly polls, which will be held in a single phase on April 9, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
There are 12 assembly seats in the Palakkad region. These include Palakkad, Malampuzha, Tarur, Chittur, Nemmara, Shoranur, Ottapalam, Pattambi, Kongad, Mannarkkad, Thrithala and Alathur.
The tenure of the current assembly is set to conclude on May 23. The polling would be done under strict guidelines issued by the ECI under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which came into effect in all poll-bound regions after the election schedule was announced.
Kerala has traditionally followed an alternating pattern of governance, switching between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) every five years since 1982. This trend was broken in 2021 when the LDF, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was re-elected for a second consecutive term.
During this election, the Congress-led UDF seek to unseat the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF and gain control of the 140-member assembly. The LDF-led government has governed the state for around a decade. Around 2.7 crore electors are expected to participate in the election.