LDFUDF revolvingdoor politics bad for State: PM
Wholesale price inflation accelerates to 3month high
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought to capitalise on the momentum from his backtoback campaign forays into Kerala since January by delivering a series of fiery attacks against the ruling and the Opposition fronts in the State.
At a BJP rally at Kattakada in the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency, Mr. Modi accused the LDF of running Kerala to financial ruin and then blaming the Centre for its “selfinflicted bankruptcy.” Mr. Modi said the LDF also falsely claimed credit for Central schemes and got rapped by the Supreme Court for poor tax administration and fiscal management.
He said “the LDFUDF revolvingdoor politics” would spell doom for Kerala. He cast the CPI(M) and the Congress as hives of nepotism and corruption. Both parties were allies shadowboxing as foes in Kerala. Their leaders lacked honesty and credibility, he said.
Mr. Modi spotlighted the financial fraud investigations against the “Chief Minister and his daughter” without naming them and “corruption” in CPI(M)controlled cooperative banks. Mr. Modi promised to return the money that the CPI(M)controlled cooperative banks had “stolen” from ordinary depositors, most of whom were daily wage labourers, women, farmers, and nonresident Indians, by quickly monetising the confiscated assets of the wrongdoers.
He reiterated that CPI (M) apparatchiks used partycontrolled cooperative banks to “cover the laundering of unaccounted money and hoarding of illgotten wealth.” “The CPI(M) district secretary in Thrissur has properties worth ₹100 crore,” he alleged. Mr. Modi promised “legal retribution” against corrupt entities, irrespective of their rank or social or political stature, and hinted that the detections, so far, were the tip of the iceberg.
Mr. Modi also accused the State government of giving administrative cover to gold smugglers and allowing the drug mafia free rein to peddle drugs in the
State. Notably, he named Varkala and Nedumangad as “narcotics trade hubs which imperilled Kerala youths.” Mr. Modi sought to showcase his anticorruption drive as his government’s hallmark. He said the Congress and the CPI (M) had cobbled together the INDIA bloc to “punish Modi for 10 years of honest, corruptionfree, propoor and transparent governance.”
Mr. Modi also offered a cornucopia of promises to the State’s electorate. These included bullet train connectivity, a boost for homestays and ecotourism, coastal protection, fisheries production and processing clusters, and modern housing and gear for fishermen.
India’s wholesale price inflation quickened to a threemonth high of 0.53% in March, from 0.2% in February, with the food index rising 4.65%, led by cereal prices surging at a 12monthhigh pace even as the inflation in paddy (11.7%), potato (53%) and onions (57%) accelerated.
Fuel and power as well as manufactured products continued to be in deflation mode, though the pace of price declines in both categories narrowed to about 0.8% in March.