The ensuing general elections will see Narendra Modi supporters and his opponents battling it out in Kerala to win the popular mandate, BJP leader M.T. Ramesh has said.
Addressing the media here on February 24 (Saturday), Mr. Ramesh said the Indian Union Muslim League was engaged in a negotiation with both the CPI(M) and the Congress on the basis of the “religious votes” that the party had claimed to be in its custody.
The Congress has already accepted the demand of the League for a third seat to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The LDF convener too is in support of the demand. The CPI(M) and the Congress are making all-out efforts to woo minority voters, especially Muslim voters, to win the elections as they have found the development politics put forward by the BJP undefeatable, he said.
The Congress and CPI(M) leaderships, which have surrendered to the Muslim League, should realise that there are other voters too in the State, he said.
Mr. Ramesh demanded a white paper on funds that the Union government had released to the State and their utilisation.
Terming Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal as the weakest Finance Minister that Kerala had seen, Mr. Ramesh said his poor management of financial affairs led to the failure of the recent discussions between the Union and State governments for raising Kerala’s credit limit.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who inaugurated the public meeting held in the city as part of the State rally undertaken by party State president K. Surendran, said the Modi government ensured all-round development of the country. The LDF and the UDF have stunted the growth of the State, he alleged.
Party State spokesperson Narayanan Namboothiri spoke.
