Left, United fronts made Kerala a den of corruption: Amit Shah

Ahead
of Kerala assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Amit Shah on Wednesday attacked
the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress led United Democratic Front by
saying that two fronts had made Kerala a “den of corruption” over the years of their
tenure, reported PTI. The union minister made the statements during his rallies
at Kanjirapally in Kottayam district and Paravur in Kollam district.

“The
LDF and UDF, which rule the state alternatively, have made Kerala a den of
corruption. When UDF comes, then we see scandals like solar scam and when LDF
is in power, there are the dollar and Gold scams,” he said.

Shaha,
who is on a campaign trail for the poll-bound states, Assam, West Bengal,
Kerala, besides the rallies, also took out road shows at Tripunithura in Kochi
and Kanjikode in Palakkad.

Touching
on the Sabarimala temple issue during his address at the Puttingal temple
ground at Paravur, Shah said the “atrocities” committed by the LDF
government against the Ayyappa devotees was “deplorable” and not seen
in any other part of the country.

“The
communist party is hellbent on finishing our culture and tradition…the BJP
government believes that in mattersrelated to temples, the government should
not interfere and let the devotees handle the issues,” he said at the
temple ground,where 114 people had been killed and over 300 injured on April
10, 2016 when a stray firework landed on a stockpile of crackers triggering a
massive blast.

The
state had witnessed violent incidents after the state government decided to
implement the 2018 Supreme court verdict allowing women of all age groups to
offer prayers at the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala.

Slamming
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the gold smuggling case,he alleged that
the Marxist leader had links with the prime accused in the scam.

“I
call upon Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Ji to answer this straight question –
Did the prime accusedin the goldscam work in your office or not? “Did your
government givethis accused monthly remuneration of Rs 3 lakh?” Shah asked
as he kickstarted the second leg of the election campaign in the southern
state.

“This
is the land of Sree Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamigal and Ayyankali.Which was
why the state was known as God’s own country.But it has been destroyed by the
LDF and the UDF who have been ruling the state alternatively,”he said.

There
was a time when Kerala was the most developed state in the country,was the
highest educated state and global tourists used to come to the state.

But
Communist and Congress parties, who have been ruling the state alternatively,
have made Kerala into a “hub of corruption”, he alleged.

He
urged the people to give a chance for the lotus to bloom and to allow the BJP
under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform the state
into a “new Kerala”.

Kerala,
known for peace and harmony, has now under the left government “turned red
with the blood from the murders of scores of activists of BJP and Vichar
Parivaar.

“The
communists have become extinct throughout the world.Isn’t it?…,he said,
asking the gathering if communists are finished and Congress party is also
finished in India.

The
time has come when Keralites should vote the BJP to power, the BJP leader said.

Taking
a dig at the Congress, Shah said he had not seen such a “secular”
party, which has allies like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala,
Pirzada in West Bengal, Badruddin Ajmal in Assam and in Maharashtra enjoying
the fruits of power with Shiv Sena.

The
Congress party and its leadership are confused, he claimed.

Targeting
Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, the Union Home minister said:
“Rahul baba came to Kerala on a picnic.The people should ask him how
Congress is fighting Communists in Kerala and are partners in West
Bengal.” Shah also wanted to know from Vijayan why no probe was ordered on
the alleged attack against officials of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and
Customs.

If it
was any other Chief Minister, he would have resigned long back,Shah said.

“Goondas
from the left parties had attacked ED and customs officials.Why has the
administration not done any investigation,” he asked.

“Had
it been any other CM he would have resigned by now.Only the communist parties
aren’t ashamed of corruption.” Shah pointed out when Congress was in
government at both the Centreand in Kerala, thenin five years, the state
received only Rs 45,395 crore, but the Narendra Modi governmentduring the past
five years had allocated Rs 1,34,848 crore to the state.

The
Union minister also took out a roadshow at Kanjikode in Palakkad this evening
where the BJP has fielded ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan as its candidate for the
April 6 assembly polls.

Thousands
of party workers, carrying party flags, cheered as the vehicle carrying Shah
flanked by E Sreedharan and C Krishnakumar (candidate from Malampuzha)
crisscrossed its way through the industrial town.