Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will emerge victorious in the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the countdown for the removal of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has started in the coastal state. He said the karyakartas of the BJP have signaled a strong mood that Kerala is ready to bid a farewell to the LDF government.
Addressing an election rally in Thiruvalla, the prime minister also took a dig at the United Democratic Front (UDF), saying the Congress-led alliance never paid attention to development in Kerala. According to him, his government has spent more than what was allotted by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre from 2004-14 for Kerala's development.
"I have come here before as well, but this time the winds of change are blowing in a different direction. The biggest transformation is now about to take place in Keralam. Voting will be held on April 9, and on May 4, the end of decades of misgovernance will be declared. It is now certain that the countdown to the exit of the LDF government has begun. For the first time, a BJP-NDA government is coming to power in Keralam," he said.
He said the NDA's policies have benefitted every group, especially the women. Migration of youth for job remains the biggest problem of Kerala, PM Modi said, but stressed that all issues of the state will be resolved once the BJP forms the government in the coastal state, calling it a 'Modi ki guarantee'.
The BJP-led NDA will ensure the overall development of Kerala, like it did in northeast states and Goa, which have significant Christian population, PM Modi said. He said the basic infrastructure of Kerala's rural areas is not up to the mark, but the subsequent LDF and UDF paid no attention to it. Continuing his attack at the LDF, PM Modi even alleged that the Left had stalled the Sabari rail project.
The prime minister also claimed that rumours are being spread that southern states will lose Lok Sabha seats due to population control, but they are all false.
"The LDF-UDF governments have never cared about this region. The condition of connecting roads here is deplorable. Not a single major bridge has been built here for many years, and the state of the medical college is so poor. Where there is such a severe lack of basic infrastructure, anyone can imagine what your standard of living must be like," he said.
Assembly elections will be held in a single phase in Kerala on April 9. The results will be declared on May 4.
