Governance has taken back seat in Kerala under LDF, UDF: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that governance has taken a backseat in Kerala under successive governments led by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) during the past decades and promised that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-BJP will reverse the trend.

“There is governance paralysis in the State,” Modi told a huge crowd in Pathanamthitta, home to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala, on Friday afternoon. “The NDA-BJP has a forward-looking agenda for Kerala, and we will put the State on a path of fast progress,” he said after invoking Lord Ayyappa’s blessings.

He greeted the massive crowd with the ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’ incantation and said he wanted to send a message to the ‘non-Malayalam speaking analysts sitting in far-away Delhi’ and pointed to the crowd thronging in the allotted space and farther beyond ‘in four decks’ as far as the eyes could see.

Holy land of Lord Ayyappa

“These analysts must be wondering ‘ hawa kaisa badal chukki hai in Kerala (how the winds have changed),” Modi said. He paid homage to temples of renown in the neighbourhood mentioning each by name and also called the service and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the occasion of Good Friday.

“The discipline and devotion of the Ayyappa devotee make this holy land holier. We learn from Ayyappa how to do good to other and be compassionate to them. But what has the LDF done? Distort the image of Kerala, show it as backward, destabilise sacred places using their agents,” Modi said in a hard-hitting speech.

Sabarimala devotees have been welcomed with flowers for decades, not with lathis. The innocent devotees are not criminals. The Left cabal has done everything to show India’s culture in poor light. Its imported and internationally rejected ideology will not work anymore, Modi said.

‘Communism is like forest fire’

“It is not for nothing that Babasaheb Ambedkar observed said that communism and democracy cannot coexist. Communism is like forest fire; it will burn itself and can consume everything. BJP will always stand in the way of efforts to trample culture,” Modi told the massive crowd.

Shifting to campaign politics, he said there are times in history when people speak in one voice against tyranny and sends a clear message to those in power. “In the 1970s, we saw a glimpse of this when Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan Ji led a movement against corruption and the Emergency.”

People of different ideologies had united then to move against dictatorship and corruption and save the Constitution. “We are now watching a similar spirit in Kerala. People are saying enough is enough to both LDF and UDF. On the other hand, they are also welcoming the development agenda of BJP and NDA.”

Seven deadly sins

The State is also showing now the professional community is giving its blessing to the BJP and how it welcomes progressive and educated people into politics. The model set by Metroman Sreedharan Ji is a game changer in Kerala politics. He has joined the BJP as a means to serve society, Modi said.

“You’re aware of the seven deadly sins. The LDF and UDF have invented their own list of seven. The first is the arrogance arising from their assumption that they cannot be defeated. But this merely goes to show how far they are disconnected from the roots.” Modi said.

The second sin is the greed for money as is amply brought to light through the solar scam, the dollar scam, the gold scam, the land scam, the bar bribery scam, the excise scam…the list is endless. The third sin is the spite for own people. “Or what else explains the resort to lathis on innocent devotees,” Modi asked.

Make money, promote dynasty

The fourth is about sheer jealousy, and how each front competes with each other in corruption, and each wants to make a paisa more than the other. The fifth is the lust for power which makes them form alliances with communal, criminal, and regressive elements of society, Modi explained.

The next is promoting dynasty politics and dynasty rule. Everything else comes only second for them. “We only know only too well about the antics of the son of a top leader and how he has landed into a lot of trouble. I don’t want to dwell on them. One can see how both UDF and LDF have kept themselves busy making money, promoting dynasty, and playing vote bank politics.”

Highway development

The Central budget has provided for extensive highway development in Kerala this year in which 1,100 km will be added to the added to the national highway network at an estimated ₹65,000 crore. “The phase 2 work of Kochi Metro will get adequate funds. We will also set up a major fish harbour in Kochi.”

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