Kochi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday boosted the BJP-led NDA’s election campaign in poll-bound Kerala by attacking LDF-UDF politics, accusing the Congress of using the West Asia conflict for "political gains", and reaching out to the Dheevara community.
Modi’s visit to Kerala to attend a series of programmes was marred by political controversy, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other LDF ministers boycotting the Prime Minister’s official event to inaugurate infrastructure projects after state PWD Minister P A Mohammed Riyas was not invited.
Riyas’s exclusion prompted the CPI(M) to hurriedly hold inauguration ceremonies for two National Highway 66 six-laning projects in north Kerala that the Prime Minister was scheduled to launch.
Modi, however, ignored the CM and Left ministers' absence from the official event and inaugurated projects worth around Rs 11,000 crore in the state.
He laid the foundation stone for a Polypropylene unit, worth over Rs 5,500 crore, at the Kochi Refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), flagged off a new train service, inaugurated the two NH-66 six laning projects and three redeveloped railway stations, and dedicated to the nation various other initiatives in the rail sector.
Prior to that, he reached out to the Dheevara community, at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Akhila Kerala Dheevara Sabha at Marine Drive here.
At the celebratory event, Modi said the Dheevara community has the potential to drive Kerala's economy forward and called upon young fishermen to take the lead in strengthening India's Blue Economy.
The community commands a significant vote share in certain coastal belts of the state and the PM's participation in their event comes at a time when political parties are stepping up outreach efforts ahead of the upcoming Kerala Assembly election.
Later, at a party rally, he accused the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress-led UDF of corruption and urged the southern state to end the pattern of alternating between CPI-M-headed LDF and Congress-led UDF governments for the sake of Kerala's progress.
Referring to the BJP's win in Thrissur in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and its wresting of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from the CPI(M) in December last year, Modi expressed confidence that the saffron party will win in the upcoming assembly elections.
He also launched a sharp attack on Congress and its top leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing the opposition party of "playing politics" over the West Asia crisis and said the LoP was unaware of the country's development.
Modi also raked up the Sabarimala gold loss issue to attack both the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF, describing them as "partners in crime" in corruption, communal politics and blocking development and industry in the state.
"They are partners in the loot of the Sabarimala temple. While LDF leaders are accused of looting the gold from the temple, the UDF is accused of selling the looted gold," Modi alleged, without elaborating.
The Prime Minister also referred to the solar scam during the UDF government and the CMRL scam during the current LDF government, saying both fronts had behaved in the same way.
He urged the people of the state to give the BJP-NDA a chance to serve them for the next five years as it would come with "Modi's guarantees".
Modi, in his speech, also attacked Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Congress "Yuvaraj" (prince) doesn't know about the development happening in the country as he was unaware that the youth and various companies in India, including in Kerala, were into drone manufacturing.
"The Congress' prince does not even know that Indian youth are creating magic in drone manufacturing. He does not know that many companies in India are manufacturing drones. He does not know that Keralam's youth are building drone startups. He is limited to a small circle and cannot see the growth of India," the PM said.
Modi's remarks were in reference to Gandhi's recent statement at an event in Thiruvananthapuram, where he said China was dominating drone manufacturing and India was nowhere close to it currently.
Modi did not spare the Congress either, accusing it of deliberately making "provocative and irresponsible statements" in connection with the West Asia crisis for political reasons, while the Centre and the Gulf nations were doing everything possible to help the Indians stranded there.
"It is unfortunate that Congress even in such times of crisis is playing politics. It is deliberately making provocative and irresponsible statements, so that the situation deteriorates and our people are stranded in trouble there and then they can together make reels blaming Modi. That is their game," he said.
He contended that the current BJP-led NDA government always makes every possible effort to help its citizens when they are in trouble.
"Be it saving the nurses stranded in Iraq or freeing Father Tom from the clutches of terrorists in Yemen, India now does not abandon its citizens in their time of crisis.
"Father Alexis Premkumar was safely rescued and brought back from Afghanistan. Even today our aim is to ensure that Indians stranded in West Asian countries amidst the war are safe and receive all possible facilities," the PM said.
He said that he was "happy" that the governments of the Gulf nations were taking care of Indian citizens there and he was "grateful" to them.
