AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala of not promoting growth and industrialization.
Addressing an election campaign at the Rajendra Maidan here on Saturday, Mr. Gandhi alleged that the CPM values their organisation above people.
“Left Democratic Front uses tremendous amount of violence to ensure the growth of their party. They also use violence on our workers and common man,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said that there is a sense of fear in the political system in Kerala under the LDF government. Violence is also involved in this political system.
He said that the situation will change after this election. The United Democratic Front government believes in looking after the aspirations of the people.
“We don’t believe in using violence. We will push aggressive economic development in the State,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said that the UDF will also distribute the benefits of growth among the poor equally.
'LDF has taken State to a dark age'
Staff reporter at Alappuzha adds
Speaking at Ambalapuzha and Chengannur on an election tour, he said the situation was such that investors shied away from coming here, the number of unemployed persons had shot up to 45 lakh and a pathetic system of governance was in place in which the interests of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] stood above those of the people.
Mr. Gandhi said the LDF government, despite the unconditional support from the Union government and the financial contributions from non-resident Keralites, had failed to be the pillar of support that it should have been to the people, particularly the youth. Educated youngsters from the State would either have to go to West Asia or to other States in search of jobs.
“The situation is such that if you want a job in Kerala itself, you have to be from the CPI(M), because for the CPI(M), its own organisation is more important than the people,” he said.
“Governance should be for the interests of the people, and not for that of political interests of one particular party.”
Mr. Gandhi said the LDF had broken all the promises it had made to the people before it came to power by handing over the administration of the State to the liquor, lottery and real-estate mafia and by taking the law-and-order situation to a new low.
This was when the entire country was actually learning from the spirit of the people of Kerala, who were behind the success of Dubai and other Gulf countries. Without Keralites, the kind of success that Dubai was enjoying now would not have been possible. People across the world had seen what Keralites were capable of, but not the CPI(M).
He said the United Democratic Front, once it reached power, would work in partnership with the Union government and build a new Kerala, creating a situation where the industry came back to the State, where companies would set up new factories in the State, where the youth would have job opportunities in the State itself and where growth would translate into development, into education, into jobs and at the same time, see its benefits distributed to the people.
He said the LDF government had neglected the coastal belt by not implementing the tsunami-rehabilitation programme in total. The UDF would be different, strengthening the coast and at the same time, giving special attention to the paddy farmers of Kuttanad and exploiting to the fullest the tourism potential of the region.
Mr. Gandhi assured the people that he would return to Kerala after the elections, as he would never give up a chance to visit the State. But the next visit would have a purpose too, which would be to help the people here chalk out a long-term development plan instead of the short-term, narrow-vision plans that were currently in place.
Congress general secretary Madhusudhan Mistry, Union Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal and the senior leader Ramesh Chennithala accompanied Mr. Gandhi.
