Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday released its campaign slogan "Puthiya Keralam Modikoppam" (New Kerala with Modi).
The slogan was announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a valedictory function of BJP's Kerala Vijay Yatra led by state party president K Surendran at Shanghumukham.
Shah in Kerala
Speaking at the event, Shah criticised both Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) and urged the people of Kerala to give NDA a chance to develop "God's own country" and make it the number one state in the country.
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"There is a healthy competition going on between LDF and UDF, not for taking Kerala forward but for doing scams. When UDF comes to power, it commits solar scam and when LDF comes to power, it does dollar, gold scams," he said.
He also slammed state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for calling central probe agencies "political tools" of the BJP-led NDA government and asked him to clarify whether the main accused in the gold and dollar smuggling cases worked in his office or not.
"The chief minister is alleging that the central agencies are acting as political tools (of BJP-led NDA government). I would like to ask a few questions. I want to ask the CM if the Dollar/gold scam main accused was working in his office or not?", he asked, referring to Swapna Suresh, who has been arrested in connection with the cases.
Metroman E Sreedharan, who joined BJP recently, was also present at the event. He stated that many people had asked him why he entered politics at this age.
"I have only one answer to it. I was able to do many projects for the country. Now, at this age too I have the energy to work, which I want to utilize for the development of Kerala. That's why I joined BJP," he said.
"After covering 13 districts in the state, today the Vijaya Yatra reached here in state capital. The joining of E Sreedharan in BJP has irked both fronts. Only BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi can save Kerala. People here are seeking a change from the corrupt fronts of LDF and UDF. The reformers have dreamed of a Kerala which is not this Kerala," BJP state president said.
The closing ceremony also witnessed Kerala People's Party led by actor Devan merging in BJP and actress Radha joining BJP. Congress leader Pandalam Prabhakan and former bureaucrat KV Balakrishnan also joined BJP.
The election for the 140-member Kerala assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on 6 April. The counting of votes will be held on 2 May.
The number of polling booths in Kerala has been extended from 21,498 to 40,771.
With inputs from agencies.
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