It was a no holds barred campaign for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday evening, as he launched a scathing attack on both the Congress and the Left.
Addressing a public meeting at Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, the same venue where Congress President Rahul Gandhi addressed his party workers on Tuesday, Modi said that the BJP will protect the beliefs and customs of the people when they come back to power.
“We are aware that the Congress and Communists have acted against the faith of the people of the state. Political violence is not the culture of the state, but the culture of Congress and the Communists. This is against the state’s great tradition and culture. The political violence of the Congress and Communist has claimed the lives of scores of BJP workers in the state,” he said.
He added, “In a democracy, political parties are formed on the basis of ideologies, not on family rules. But the ideologies of the Congress and Communists are that of opportunism.”
He flayed Rahul Gandhi for coming to Wayanad to contest the elections.
“The Congress president said that he won’t say anything against the Left. This is not politics but protection of one’s own interests and political opportunism. If they think the people of Kerala won’t understand that, it will be their biggest failure. The Congress president says that he is contesting from Wayanad to give a message, then why didn’t he do so by contesting in Thiruvananthapuram or Pathanamthitta? Are they (constituencies) not part of Kerala? This is not an attempt to give a message to south India; but an appeasement tactic of the Congress,” Modi said.
‘We’ll protect people’s faith, customs’
Though he was conscious, once again, not to mention the word Sabarimala in his speech, he did say that they will protect the people’s of customs and faith, “something that the Congress and the Communists won’t do,” he said.
“Neither the Congress nor the Communists care about people's lives or their faith. The Communist government here have booked people who chanted God's name. They are intolerant about the rituals. Once the Modi government comes back to power, we will fight to protect your customs and we will also take action to give constitutional protection to these beliefs. BJP's stand is clear. It is the Congress that is playing a double game here. They maintain one stand in Delhi and another in Kerala,” he said.
‘Kerala govt’s lackadaisical attitude caused floods’
Recalling that the Kerala Chief Minister is an accused in the Lavlin case and calling him corrupt, the PM added, “They have not even dispersed the money which was given for the flood victims to the deserved. Now it has been come out that it was the lackadaisical attitude of the government that cause the floods. The government has no moral right to be in office for a single moment.”
‘What has Congress done to Nambi Narayanan’
“I hope you are aware what the Congress has done to Kerala's own scientist Nambi Narayan,” the Prime Minister asked the crowd. “Can we ever forgive the Congress for what they have done to Nambi Narayanan, who is the proud son of the soil? This is the difference between the government of those who would just give promises and the one that takes decisions,” he added.
Incidentally, Modi made these remarks in the presence of former DGP TP Senkumar, who has been active in BJP’s campaign meetings. Senkumar is one of the police officers accused of falsely booking scientist Nambi Narayanan in the infamous ISRO spy case.