Prime Minister Narendra Modi has compared the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala to Judas.
“Judas betrayed Lord Christ for a few coins. The LDF betrayed Kerala for a few pieces of gold,” Mr. Modi said while addressing an election rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Fort Maidan here on Tuesday.
Mr. Modi went on to attack both the LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF), saying that both fronts were engaged in a match-fixing game. Calling upon the youth to reject the LDF and the UDF, Mr. Modi said they both were masters of vote-bank politics and shared the same objective of making money.
The Prime Minister accused the two fronts of directly attacking the State’s culture. “These parties are ashamed of the culture of our land. Their leaders abuse our tradition and ethos. The LDF government should be ashamed of ‘showering’ lathis on innocent devotees, and the UDF should be ashamed of remaining silent,” he said adding that the BJP could not be intimidated by lathis and would not remain silent spectators.
According to Mr. Modi, the nation’s politics is afflicted by five diseases — corruption, casteism, communalism, cronyism (both nepotism and dynasticism), and criminalism. “And the root cause of this disease is a super disease called vote-bank politics.”
Alleging that the UDF and the LDF had erected a large number of road blocks to Kerala’s development, the Prime Minister proposed a FAST path of development for the State. “F stands for fishery and fertilizers, A for agriculture and Ayurveda, S for skill development and social justice, and T for tourism and technology.”
He said the BJP would give thrust on those areas to achieve fast development for the State. The BJP, if elected to power in Kerala, will also stop the culture of political killings in the State. “The LDF was in power in Kerala many times. Still their leaders behave like junior level goons. Under their eyes and with their blessings, political rivals are killed. It is not good in a democracy,” he said.
Showing technocrat E. Sreedharan, who is BJP’s candidate in Palakkad, as an example, the Prime Minister said that educated youngsters and professional communities across the State were openly supporting the BJP. “The BJP vision for Kerala is forward looking and aspirational,” he said, adding that the BJP would ensure growth and focus on improving ease of living for the people.
All BJP candidates in the district, including Mr. Sreedharan, were present.
Mr. Modi reached Indira Gandhi Stadium here by helicopter and proceeded to Fort Maidan in a motorcade. He reached the venue at 11.20 a.m. and left by 12.20 p.m.
