Idukki (Kerala) | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday raised local issues including agriculture, land rights and human-animal conflict to target the ruling LDF at an election rally in Kattappana here.
Addressing the gathering as part of his campaign for the April 9 assembly elections, Gandhi alleged that the agriculture and plantation sectors had collapsed under the LDF government.
Idukki is a district with a large number of farmers and plantation workers "If they were truly Left, workers and plantation sectors would not have been suffering," he said.
He claimed that crops such as tea, rubber and cardamom were on the decline in Kerala.
"In the last election, the LDF promised to raise the rubber MSP (minimum support price) to Rs 250 but did not fulfil it. Now the BJP-controlled Rubber Board is unwilling to raise MSP to Rs 300," he said.
Gandhi alleged that thousands of families have been denied land rights.
"They cannot construct houses or cultivate because they do not have land rights," he said.
He also claimed that the healthcare system in Idukki has "collapsed", noting the absence of a super-specialty hospital in the district, forcing people to travel to Kottayam for advanced treatment.
Referring to human-animal conflict, he said the UDF would try to address the issue if voted to power.
"I understand the delicate issue of man-animal conflict here. We will work to resolve it," he said.
Gandhi alleged that unemployment was on the rise in the state, claiming that "one out of three" people is jobless, and that political affiliation was required to secure jobs.
"Young people without Left affiliation are forced to go overseas for jobs," he claimed, adding that these issues reflected the failure of the LDF government.
Gandhi reiterated his allegation of a nexus between the ruling LDF and the BJP.
"BJP attacks minorities across the country, burns churches in Manipur and attacks Kerala nurses in Chhattisgarh, yet the LDF is happily taking their support," he claimed.
"Left Front is no longer a Left party; it has become a corporate party like the BJP".
He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking about the alleged gold loss from the Sabarimala temple and claimed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family were not being probed by central agencies due to a "partnership".
Gandhi further alleged that Modi was influenced by US President Donald Trump and claimed a similar dynamic existed between the PM and Vijayan.
He accused the chief minister and his family of corruption, and claimed that "every child in Kerala knows about it".
He reiterated the Congress party's five guarantees, saying they would empower women in Kerala.
"I was not born in Kerala, but I am already a Keralite," he said
