LS polls an appraisal, say fronts

Claim Centre and State government will be under scrutiny

The Lok Sabha elections will be an assessment of the performance of the Union and State governments, the rival fronts feel.

Bharatiya Janata Party State committee member K.R.Prathapachandra Varma is confident of a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the people will make a positive assessment of the Central government and exercise their franchise in its favour.

However, Raju Abraham, MLA, of the Left Democratic Front and Johnson Abraham, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer, say the people are fed up with the anti-people policies of the Centre and will vote Mr. Modi out of power.

Representatives of the three major political coalitions were taking part in ‘Poll Debate-2019’ organised by the Pathanamthitta Press Club on Wednesday.

Detailing the achievements of the Modi government, Mr. Varma criticised what he termed the anti-believer stance of the LDF government.

Mr. Raju Abraham said the MLAs contesting the elections were in a particular situation. However, Mr. Johnson Abraham said he was personally not in favour of MLAs contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Raju Abraham accused the BJP of trying to divide the people on communal lines.

The KPCC treasurer said the polls would be a people’s verdict against the anti-people policies of the BJP-led Union government and the Pinarayi Vijayan-led State government.

Mr. Johnson Abraham, referring to the Sabarimala issue, said the Congress had always been with the devotees. The deluge last year that wreaked unprecedented havoc in the State was due to the government’s inept management of the dam waters, he alleged.

Bobby Abraham, Press Club president, and Biju Kurien, secretary, spoke.