The countdown for the April 6 elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu Legislative Assemblies began on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the campaign against the CPI (M)-led LDF in Kerala and the DMK-led Opposition in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Addressing an election rally at Palakkad, from where the legendary engineer E Sreedharan is contesting as a BJP candidate, Prime Minister Modi lambasted the Marxists whom he described as Judas who betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 silver coins.
“Judas betrayed Lord Jesus Christ for 30 silver coins. But the CPI(M) betrayed Kerala and the country for some gold bars,” the Prime Minister said in a thundering voice as the thousands who had gathered to listen to him roared in approval.
Modi reminded the people of Kerala how the CPI(M) systematically destroyed the age-old custom and tradition of Sabarimala shrine. “While the CPI(M) was destroying the cultural fabric of the State, the Congress-led UDF watched it in silence,” charged the Prime Minister.
He also reminded the people of the State about the match fixing between the CPI (M) and the Congress.
“Here in Kerala they oppose each other while in the rest of the country they are alliance partners. In Kerala the secret deal between them is to rule and loot the State alternately. We saw the youth in the State who agitated for employment getting lathi-charged by the police,” said the Prime Minister.
A Muslim woman who wanted to seek the blessings of Modi by touching his feet was asked by the Prime Minister not to do so and he himself touched her feet.
The campaign pitch in Tamil Nadu touched new heights as Modi unleashed a scathing attack on the DMK and its allies. Addressing a mammoth rally at Tirupur where BJP’s State chief Dr Murugan is the party’s candidate, the Prime Minister came down heavily on the derogatory comments on women in Tamil Nadu made by A Raja, former Union Minister for Telecommunications during the UPA regime. Raja has used unparliamentary and obscene comments while mentioning about Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy’s mother.
Without naming Raja, the Prime Minister said the UPA led by the DMK has launched an outdated 2G Missile to attack Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy’s mother. “The attack was targeted against the women of Tamil Nadu. If the DMK comes to power it would target women in the State and I do pray that such things do not take place in the State,” he said.
Modi reminded the voters about the physical assault carried out by the DMK on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inside the Legislative Assembly. “How can we forget the incidents of March 29, 1989 when the DMK’s MLAs physically assaulted Amma Jayalalithaaji while the Legislative Assembly was in session? It was the most despicable incident,” said the Prime Minister.
Later in the evening, addressing an election rally at Puducherry, the Prime Minister described the previous Government of the Union Territory led by V Narayanasamy as a disaster. “In a long list of non-performing Congress Governments over the years, the previous Puducherry Government has a special place. The Delhi High Command and Government of Puducherry failed on all fronts; take any sector - education, filling of medical seats, welfare of SC-STs, there was only loot,” said the Prime Minister.
“I have seen many elections but the 2021 elections in Puducherry is unique for the fact that the sitting Chief Minister has been denied a ticket. So many years of loyalty, lifting the slippers of his leader, doing wrong translation to impress his leader. Still no ticket. This clearly shows how much of a disaster his Govt has turned out to be,” said Modi. He said MLAs belonging to Congress were openly talking about corruption, directly linked to the family of the former Chief Minister.
Election fever touched the zenith by the end of Tuesday as the Prime Minister set the agenda for debate and discussion in the run up to the April 6 election in the two States and the Union Territory.