Modi targets LDF, UDF over decades of corruption, calls BJP Kerala’s real A-team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday intensified the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s campaign for the April 9 Kerala Assembly election with a sharp attack on both the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF). Alleging that the two fronts had alternated in power for decades while “looting” the State through corruption and misgovernance, Mr. Modi said their politics had deprived the people of Kerala of resources, opportunities and growth.

Positioning the BJP-led NDA as a decisive alternative, the Prime Minister said that an NDA government would advance the vision of a “Viksit Kerala,” promising faster development and measures to curb the outward migration of educated youth by creating opportunities within the State. “It is Modi’s guarantee to you. The NDA’s guarantee is Modi’s guarantee,” he said while addressing a rally of all 12 NDA candidates from Palakkad district. A large crowd gathered at Fort Grounds at 2 p.m., braving the intense summer heat to attend the event.

The Prime Minister alleged that both the UDF and LDF were misleading the public by labelling each other as the BJP’s B-team. “That is an inadvertent admission by both fronts that the BJP is the real A-team in Kerala,” he said.

He said that for decades, Kerala had been trapped between the fronts that alternated in power without delivering progress. “If one was communal, the other was overly communal; if one was corrupt, the other was excessively corrupt. Both UDF and LDF have cheated the public by relying on vote-bank politics,” he said.

He promised to expose the corruption involving LDF and UDF if the BJP comes to power in Kerala. “Both of them engaged in corruption and looting, but they never exposed each other. The BJP will ensure justice for the people by investigating and revealing the LDF-UDF misdeeds,” he said.