Give NDA 5 years to transform Kerala: Modi

Kochi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed to the people of Kerala to give BJP-led NDA a chance to rule the state.Launching NDA's election campaign at a convention in Kochi, Modi said that the people of Kerala gave 70 years to LDF and UDF for governance. It was necessary to break the existing political pattern for rapid development, he said. "Give us five years to transform Kerala into a developed state. If the NDA comes to power, people will get a glimpse of a developed Keralam. The progress has Modi's guarantee," he said."Keralam has a great natural landscape, culture, talent, technology and a long coastline. Despite all these, the development has been not at a desiring level. LDF and UDF caused great losses to the state," he said.Modi said BJP and NDA have made a roadmap for Viksit Keralam and the vision document includes promoting sectors like medical health tourism, wedding destinations, conference venues and hosting cultural programmes.Taking a swipe at the Congress leadership, Modi said that the party's young leader was unaware of the achievements made by India's youth, particularly in drone manufacturing. He said several companies in India were producing drones and many young entrepreneurs, including those from Kerala, have launched start-ups based on drone technology. He said those confined to narrow thinking would never be able to see the country's progress and the innovations driven by its youth.Modi said that what is happening in Kerala is a coalition govt of LDF and UDF fronts. The only difference is in the name of the fronts. Modi criticized that the left and right fronts were partners in corruption, crime, spreading communalism, preventing development and destroying industries. The solar scam took place during UDF govt and the CMRL scam during LDF govt. Both LDF and UDF have a role in the Sabarimala gold heist. If it was the LDF that smuggled gold from Sabarimala, then the UDF leaders are facing allegations of selling the stolen gold.Modi called Congress as MMC — Muslim Maoist Congress. The party is supporting Jamaat-e-Islami and similar extremist forces to seize power. CPM established political ties with PDP, which is responsible for terrorism among youth. Modi said the two fronts should be kept apart for the security of Kerala and the welfare of its people.On the Gulf crisis, Modi said: "I'm satisfied that the govts of all our friendly countries in the Gulf are taking care of our citizens. Our missions and embassies in those countries are providing assistance to them 24x7. But it's a grave misfortune that the Congress party is playing politics even in the midst of such a major global crisis. Congress is deliberately making provocative and irresponsible statements to worsen the situation, so that our people stay stuck in that crisis and then these people can start a campaign to make reels abusing Modi."BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BDJS president Thushar Vellappally, Twenty20 chairman Sabu Jacob, Union ministers Suresh Gopi and George Kurien, and senior BJP leaders C K Padmanabhan, P K Krishnadas, M T Ramesh and Sobha Surendran were among those present.