Union Home Minister Amit Shah lashed out at the ruling CPI(M)-controlled LDF government on corruption while emphasising that the BJP's goal was a 'Viksit Keralam' (developed Kerala) and not to have its own chief minister in the state. In preparation for the local body elections this year and the 2026 Assembly poll, Shah underlined that only the NDA would develop the state, not the LDF or the Congress-led UDF.
"It is more vital for the BJP to make its state office the hub of 'Viksit Keralam' than have a chief minister," Shah averred. The veteran BJP leader was in Kerala to open the Bharatiya Janata Party state committee office, Mararji Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram. The BJP currently has no base in the state Assembly and has only one MP from Kerala.
Shah asserted that the successive UDF and LDF governments were indulged in nothing but corruption and had turned Kerala into a safe haven for "anti-national forces" such as the Popular Front of India (PFI). The Centre had banned PFI in 2022.
"'Viksit Bharat' is impossible without the growth of strong southern states and the path to 'Viksit Bharat' is only through 'Viksit Keralam'," he asserted.
Also read: Kerala govt seeks 600 acre for Vizhinjam port industrial park
Emphasising a major contrast between the BJP and CPI(M), Shah said both were cadre parties, but while the former aimed to work for development, the Left party worked for the cadres.
"For the CPI(M), the cadres' development precedes state development," he asserted.
Training his guns at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Shah described the 2020 gold smuggling scam as the "largest state government-sponsored scam".
"The LDF was involved in numerous scams, such as the cooperative bank scam, LIFE Mission scam, AI camera scam, PPE kits scam. But the gold smuggling case is the largest government-sponsored scam," Shah asserted.
The gold smuggling case rattled the Pinarayi Vijayan government in 2020 when customs officials intercepted gold worth ₹15 crore at the airport. M Sivasankar, the then-principal secretary to Vijayan, was among the prominent accused.
Another prime accused, Swapna Suresh, claimed that Vijayan, his wife, and daughter were part of the smuggling racket. Despite the absence of the usual stamp of authority, Shah added that the NDA will fight the 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala with the agenda of forming the government.
Follow us
