Exuding confidence that the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala will fare better than last time, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) claims of a ‘Modi wave’ in the country. Kerala went to the polls on April 10.
Addressing presspersons at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office here on Monday, Mr. Chandy, who came to the city to campaign for Congress candidates, termed the BJP’s campaign “person-centric”.
‘BJP has one slogan’
“The BJP is campaigning with only one slogan. They are campaigning only for Mr. Modi and not for the party. This is a Modi-centric campaign and there is neither a Modi wave nor a BJP wave and their own leaders are saying this,” he said, referring to BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi’s statement that there was “no Modi wave”.
Mr. Chandy said the fight in Kerala was between the Congress-led UDF and the Left Democratic Front.
“The BJP is not a force in Kerala. The party will have to wait for many years to open its account in Kerala. I am confident and we, in the Congress, are expecting better results than in the last elections, both at the State- and national-level.”
He said he was hopeful that people would choose the Congress to provide a stable and secular government. “The Congress is the only party that can take forward people belonging to all sections of society.”
‘Confident of victory’
Mr. Chandy campaigned for the Congress candidates in the three constituencies in the city. “I am here to campaign for our party candidates. I am happy to see the popularity enjoyed by them in Bangalore Central, North and South constituencies and am confident of their victory,” he said.
Mr. Chandy, who started his campaign in Bangalore North, had a meeting at Kalathur Layout in Jalahalli. This was followed by a roadshow in Hebbal, Kempapura, Udayanagar in K.R. Puram and Sarvagnanagar. In the evening, Mr. Chandy met members of his community at St. Thomas Parish Hall in Suddaguntepalya. This was followed by meetings with members of the Malabar Muslim Association and Jayanagar Malayali Muslim Association.
Mr. Chandy, who met Jnanpith Award winner U.R. Ananthamurthy in the morning, said he will return to Kerala on Tuesday.
