How Congress, Left reacted to PM Modi's 'BJP coming to power in Kerala' comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims that the BJP will come to power in Kerala has not gone well with the Congress, the Left and other parties in the Southern state.

In his victory speech after BJP's stupendous performance in the North East polls on Thursday, he set his sights on Kerala by citing the increasing support of minorities for the saffron party. "As gradually the lies of our rivals are exposed, the BJP will expand... I am sure in the coming years, as it has happened in Meghalaya and Nagaland and has been happening in Goa, the BJP's alliance will form a government in Kerala too," PTI quoted the PM as saying.

Responding to the PM's statement, senior CPI(M) leader and Politburo member MA Baby said that the PM should realise that the BJP lost its only seat in the 2021 assembly polls. "The PM is entitled to daydream, but he should remember that the only seat the BJP had in the state legislature has been lost. That sole seat was wrested by the Left front in the last election and the BJP in Kerala is now in a deplorable condition," he said.

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan too spoke along similar lines when he said that the BJP will never come to power in Kerala as the people here would "unite against the fascist and feudal movements". "It (BJP coming to power) will never happen in Kerala. There is no space for the BJP. There will be no space as people of the state will never allow any communal forces here.

"The Congress and UDF are at the forefront to prevent the BJP. We have already declared that wherever possible, to prevent the communal and fascist forces, we will constitute an open platform of the anti-BJP and anti-communal forces," Satheesan told reporters here. He, however, also accused the CPI(M) of working to create a space for BJP in the state.

Satheesan alleged that CPI(M) in Kerala was anti-Congress and has an "unholy nexus" with the BJP at the Centre because they want to settle the cases which have been initiated against the Kerala CM by central agencies. He claimed that the majority of Hindus in the state are against the BJP. If the contrary was true, then BJP would have been number one or two in Kerala, he said.

Congress-ally Indian Union Muslim League's (IUML) senior leader MK Muneer said that Modi was "not conscious of the ground reality in Kerala", but "he can dream". "From 1957 onwards, it has been either LDF or UDF in power. Many times communal forces tried to creep into Kerala politics, but the people kept them away. That is because people here are literate, aware and politicised," he told reporters here.

Muneer said that the PM was entitled to dream, "but it will not be fruitful". "He thinks Kerala will fall into the hold of NDA like in other states. That is not going to happen here. He (PM) is taking it lightly," the IUML leader added. He said that all majority and minority religious groups and communities in the state will prevent BJP from getting a foothold in Kerala. "They will not give BJP even an inch of space. We are very confident about that," he added.

Although the BJP did not win a seat in 2021 elections in Kerala, its vote share rose by 0.77 per cent compared to 2016 assembly elections.

The BJP secured 11.3 per cent of the total votes of 115 constituencies where the party fielded its own candidates. It garnered 10.53 per cent in 2016 state assembly elections.

With inputs from PTI