The Modi factor will sway votes for BJP: Muraleedharan
The expectation of Narendra Modi coming back to power will improve the chances of the party’s candidates in Kerala where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to win a Lok Sabha seat, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said.
In an interview to The Hindu, the BJP leader, contesting from the Attingal constituency, said it will add to the various other factors which are favourable to the party this time in Kerala, including the “unprecedented infrastructure development”.
“My firm view is that the BJP has a vote share of 2030% across the State. It doesn’t get polled when we don’t have a candidate who can get all those votes. That is why last time Shobha Surendran got that in Attingal. So, wherever the BJP has a strong candidate and people feel we are serious, they vote in favour of us,” he said.
‘CAA has play in State’
Mr. Muraleedharan feels that the notification of rules for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), a campaign plank by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), is an issue of no relevance in Kerala.
“Nobody who has come from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan has settled in Kerala and applied for citizenship. But, it is being raised because the CPI(M) wants to get the support of a particular community. They also want an escape route from the embarrassing position that they are in, with the allegations against the Chief Minister’s daughter. Also, when they raise this, the Congress cannot be silent. But, it is not taking up this issue in other States,” he said.
On the allegations that Central agencies were being selectively used to target Opposition parties, he said the INDIA bloc is raising such an issue because it has nothing else to speak about.
“Why didn’t Arvind Kejriwal respond to summons issued eight times? Did he choose a date closer to the election so that he will get sympathy? If there is nothing prima facie, he would have got a bail. This means that the Opposition feels that “we will do our looting, but we are the Opposition, don’t touch us,” he said.
However, when asked about the agencies dropping investigations against leaders like Praful Patel, soon after they joined the BJP, Mr. Muraleedharan said that it could be a “coincidence”. “He might have shifted to BJP. The charges were not proved, which was why it was not taken ahead. If that is the case, the Congress can go to the court,” he said.
Regarding electoral bonds and the alleged quid pro quo involved in it, he said the bonds were conceptualised as a means of transparency. The BJP got only ₹6,000 crore out of the ₹12,000 crore worth bonds issued, with the rest going to the Opposition parties.
Development issues
He said he will be pitching for the idea that development need not be geographically limited. Thiruvananthapuram city’s progress spills over to nearby rural areas. Connectivity will be the major issue. If connectivity is there, industry will come, people will travel and the area will develop. However, the Union government was not keen on the SilverLine semihighspeed rail network project because it was “not a viable project”.
On the State government’s allegations of the Union government clamping down an economic embargo on Kerala, he said the State’s demand had fallen flat with the Supreme Court now saying that the balance of convenience is with the Union government, although the matter was referred to a Constitution Bench.
Full interview: https:// bit.ly/49iXQlS