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Ahead of the Kerala Assembly Elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressing his first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-NDA rally in the State, launched a sharp attack on Kerala's dominant political parties, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF), accusing them of trapping the state in a cycle of "selfish politics" and corruption.
Adressing the gathering at a public meeting in Palakkad, PM Modi hit out at the alliances that, while one side is corrupt, the other is "mega corrupt". "Keralam has been trapped for decades between the two masks of selfish politics. On one side, LDF, on the other UDF, on one side Communists, on the other Congress, one corrupt, the other mega-corrupt, one communal, the other mega-communal," he said The Prime Minister accused both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliances of prioritising vote-bank appeasement over the state's development. "All policies of LDF and UDF are only for votebank politics. They have no concern for Keralam's development," he alleged adding that the people of Keralam are no longer convinced by the empty promises of the LDF and the UDF. "Only the BJP-NDA can fulfil people's aspirations and ensure development," he said. He asserted his personal "guarantee" that a BJP-NDA government would rapidly transform the state into a "developed Keralam" a Viksit Keralam. "Now I assure you that the BJP-NDA government forming here will rapidly develop Keralam, will build a developed Keralam... this is Modi's guarantee." Additionally, PM Modi noted that there is a different atmosphere in the state presently, highlighting that it's due to increasing trust in the NDA alliance. "I see a different atmosphere in Keralam this time. Keralam is sending a message of change. The growing popularity of the NDA, the growing trust of the people in the BJP, your enthusiasm and support today, and your presence in such large numbers. Palakkad, all this shows that Keralam's mood has become a movement," he said, stating that such a large gathering indicates that Kerala's youth, women and farmers have put their trust in the BJP and NDA. Prime Minister Modi attributed this "change" to the efforts of party workers in the state along with the "blessing of people". "So many of our workers have lost their lives due to political violence here. Today, in my first election rally in Keralam, I pay my respectful tribute to all those workers from this platform," he said. This public meeting comes ahead of Kerala Assembly polls, which will be held in a single phase on April 9, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4. There are 12 assembly seats in the Palakkad region. These include Palakkad, Malampuzha, Tarur, Chittur, Nemmara, Shoranur, Ottapalam, Pattambi, Kongad, Mannarkkad, Thrithala and Alathur. The tenure of the current assembly is set to conclude on May 23. The polling would be done under strict guidelines issued by the ECI under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which came into effect in all poll-bound regions after the election schedule was announced. Kerala has traditionally followed a alternating pattern of governance, switching between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) every five years since 1982. This trend was broken in 2021 when the LDF, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was re-elected for a second consecutive term. During this election, the Congress-led UDF seek to unseat the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF and gain control of the 140-member assembly. The LDF-led government has governed the state for around a decade. Around 2.7 crore electors are expected to participate in the election. (ANI)
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