Accusing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) of making attempts to destabilise places of worship through their agents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists will stand in the way of any attempts to tamper with Indian culture.
Addressing Vijay Rally organised by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam, near Konni, on Friday, Mr. Modi invoked the Sabarimala episode as a case in point. “At first, they tried to portray the culture of Kerala as regressive and tried to destabilise places of worship by sending their agents,” he said.
“The devotees of Lord Ayyappa, who should have been welcomed warmly, were greeted with lathis. The innocent devotees are not criminals,” he said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister started his speech by chanting ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa.’ He then paid tributes to various temples in Pathanamthitta, including the Thiruvalla Sreevallabha temple, Aranmula Parthasarathy temple and Malayalapuzha Devi temple, besides Sabarimala. The services and sacrifices made by Jesus Christ too were remembered in view of the observance of Good Friday.
He lashed out at the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the LDF of engaging in competitive corruption. He accused both the fronts of committing many sins, including arrogance, greed for money, lust for power and promoting dynasty politics.
“The lust for power has made the UDF and LDF form alliances with all communal, criminal and regressive forces,” he said, pointing out the regressive social policies adopted by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Popular Front of India (PFI).
The BJP, on the other hand, brought in professionals and educated people to politics as was evident in the case of tecnocrat E. Sreedharan, he said. He termed Mr. Sreedharan’s entry into politics as a game changer in Kerala's path of progress.
He elaborated on the development projects allotted to Kerala in the Union Budget and noted the potential that the State holds in the area of tourism development. Mr. Modi criticised the State government for its under achievement in the Jal Jeevan Mission programme and attributed the shortfall to an attempt to deny credit to the Prime Minister.
BJP State president K. Surendran, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, and BDJS State president Thushar Vellappally were present.
