‘UDF, LDF making lastminute deal to beat BJP’

KOZHIKODE: Former Bharatiya Janata Party national president M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the UDF and the LDF had been trying hard to prevent the party from entering the state Legislative Assembly.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Sunday, Naidu allged that the LDF and the UDF were making finalminute deal to transferring votes in order to defeat the BJP in constituencies where the BJP is their main opponent.

Expressing confidence that the BJP would be able to open account in Kerala this time, the senior BJP leader appealed to the voters to vote for a change and choose a real Opposition in the Assembly. He said the people were wishing for a change as they had already fed up with the misrule of the LDF.

“Though the UDF and the LDF have been ruling the state since 1957, they have failed to execute developmental projects. Those who spoke of secularism are now holding the hands of organisations like Jama’at-e-Islami in the polls, he said.

The LDF rule has taken the state back by many years. The Kerala government has failed to implement Sabarimala master plan and Pampa project.

The state is also backward in many sectors including IT, agriculture and production compared to other states in the country, he said. He said the ruling parties would not come to power in five states where the Assembly elections would be held in April and May.

Venkaiah lashed out at DMK supremo Karunanidhi for offering freebies to the voters in Tamil Nadu. In a sarcastic way, Venkaiah Naidu said that the washing machine offered by Karunanidhi could be used to wash out the sins of his party men.

He said the people of Tamil Nadu need basic facilities like water and electricity, not freebies.

Criticising the UPA government, the BJP leader said that Anna Hazare’s fast was not only for the Lokpal Bill but it was also people’s expression of anger against the prime minister’s inaction. He said the PM allowed corruption to take place in the country. “The country has not seen a PM like Manmohan Singh who is acting like ‘Mauni Baba’ (silent monk),” he said.

Saying that the Lokpal Bill alone was not going to change the existing problems, he said the need of the hour is a political will. “Neither the Congress nor the PM has the political will,” he said.

He stressed the need for a second JP movement in the country to free it from corruption, black money and misgoverning.

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