Kerala assembly election 2021 will witness a tough poll battle between the three major alliances, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

The polling for one phased Kerala assembly elections will be held on April 6 and the votes for the same will be counted on May 2.

With the left, right and center campaign trail offering some high voltage drama through rallies, road shows, time to time stunts pulled by the key leaders and a never ending high-decibel blame game, here is a look at the important statements made during the Kerala campaigning.

Amit Shah’s “corruption den” remark

Union minister and BJP’s veteran leader Amit Shah, who has been on a whistle-stop tour of the poll-bound state, said that the both the fronts (LDF and UDF) that have been voted to power in Kerala time and again had made the state a den of corruption in their tenure.

“The LDF and UDF have made Kerala a den of corruption. When UDF comes, we get to see scandals like solar scam and when LDF is in power, there are the dollar and gold scams,” Shah said.

He made the allegations while addressing a rally in Kottayam.

Rahul Gandhi’s “north-south politics” comment

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while addressing a public meeting  in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram made a controversial statements about the different treatment of political issues in the northern and southern region of the country.

“For the first 15 years in politics, I was an MP in north (Amethi) and that made me used to a different kind of politics. The experience of coming to Kerala was refreshing for me as I observed that here, people are interested i getting into the details of the issues and not just superficially,” said Gandhi.

His comment attracted massive backlash and criticism from the BJP leader who alleged that the congress leader was trying to create a north-south divide in the country.

 Pinarayi Vijayan’s remark on Central investigation agencies 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a press conference in the first week of March alleged that central investigation agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs are taking up the election campaigning for key political parties like BJP and Congress.

In a scathing attacks on the agencies, Pinarayi said, “The steps taken by ED against Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and the statement filed by the Customs in the High Court are an example that customs is now leading the campaign.”

“The Kerala High Court has clearly stated that the investigating agency should not disclose such statement made by an individual directly or indirectly,” he added.

Metro man E Sreedharan on BJP being the kingmaker

E Sreedharan, who is one of BJP’s key player in the Kerala assembly elections, on Wednesday asserted that the party has good chances of winning majority in the upcoming elections and if not so, would definitely emerge as the kingmaker in the state.

BJP has got very good prospects of winning number of seats according to me. It may be absolute majority or could be a sizeable number by which they’ll be the kingmakers,” Sreedharan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.