Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretary M.V. Govindan on Tuesday sought to puncture the hype over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile visit to Kerala by claiming that “falsehoods and political bombast characterised the VVIP’s two-day sojourn” in the State.
At a press conference here, Mr. Govindan termed Mr. Modi’s claim that Kerala lacked development “a barefaced lie.”
He said the State topped NITI Aayog’s sustainable development goal index, including housing, investment, education and health. The State ranked first in life expectancy and low infant mortality. An estimated 98.2% households in Kerala have proper toilets, power and access to potable water.
Kerala provided ₹1,600 monthly as welfare pension to 53 lakh beneficiaries. In contrast, the Centre gave “a pittance” of ₹300 to six lakh citizens under its moribund widow and old-age pension schemes, he said.
Mr. Govindan said Mr. Modi’s walk in Kochi testified to Kerala’s peace-loving secular character and the robust law and order situation in the State.
“Mr. Modi would think twice about walking freely on the road in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat. Kerala is proud that the Prime Minister felt so safe, secure and at home in the Left Democratic Front (LDF)-ruled State”, said Mr. Govindan.
He said Mr. Modi’s claim that the BJP made significant inroads into Christian-dominated Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland was a trumped-up tale. The BJP had less than 15 Assembly seats in the three States put together. It ascended to power by piggybacking on regional allies, he said.
In Goa, Congress defectors handed over victory to the BJP. A weakened Congress aided BJP in recapturing power in Gujarat, he alleged.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP lost 100 sitting seats in the Assembly elections. Its vote share plummeted, benefitting socialist parties. In Maharashtra, the BJP defied popular will and split the Shiv Sena to clamber its way to power, he said.
Mr. Govindan said the BJP’s claim that Christians in Kerala were gravitating towards its Hindu-nationalist agenda was a myth.
The founding ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), V.D. Savarkar, identified Muslims, missionaries and Marxists as India’s fifth columnists (internal enemies working for foreign powers) and called for their “ethnic cleansing”. Church leaders protested in New Delhi last month against rising attacks on believers, he said.
Mr. Govindan said Savarkar’s ideological treatises on Hindu nationalism guided the BJP. Savarkar parrotted Hitler whose nationalist tack in Nazi Germany precipitated the Holocaust.
Mr. Govindan said an emerging alignment of secular, democratic and regional forces would defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The media blitz surrounding Mr. Modi’s visit was short-lived and would leave no lasting political impact.
Instead, issues such as Hindu nationalism, corporate corruption, growing income disparity, trespasses on federalism, persecution of minorities and political opponents, erosion of secular and democratic values, language jingoism, the ill effects of neo-liberalism and livelihood issues would determine the course of national politics in the run-up to the 2024 elections, he said.
