Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Ernakulam, Kerala. BJP state President Rajeev Chandrasekhar and others are also seen.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Tearing into the bipolar politics of Kerala at a public meeting and launching a series of projects at two adjacent venues in Kochi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted the poll campaign of the National Democratic Alliance in the State on Wednesday (March 11, 2026).
Mr. Modi also undertook a road show near the venue of the events as hundreds of BJP workers lined up on the flanks of the road to greet their leader.
The political criticism and inauguration of projects worth around ₹11,000 crore come at a time when the political parties of the State are busy finalising the list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls.
Incidentally, after his whirlwind tour to the State during the morning hours of the day, Mr. Modi left for Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu, the State which is also going to Assembly polls, to launch a few projects there and to address public meetings.
At Kochi, Mr. Modi drew parallels between the current LDF regime and the earlier UDF government. He alleged that both the fronts were partners in corruption, committing crimes, spreading communalism, stonewalling development projects and closing down of industrial units. Their only difference was in their names, according to Mr. Modi.
The reported political alliance between the Welfare Party, the political party of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and the Congress in Kerala too came under criticism from Mr. Modi.
The Congress had become the Muslim League Maoist Congress in Kerala, taking a dig at the political understanding the Congress had made in the State, Mr. Modi said.
He also invoked the political understanding the CPI (M) had reportedly entered into with the People’s Democratic Party earlier by mentioning that some of the leaders of the latter were found involved in perpetrating extremism.
Sabarimala case
The alleged Sabarimala Temple gold theft case also found mention in the political campaign of Mr. Modi. He held both the LDF and the UDF culpable for the alleged gold theft that took place in the hill shrine. While the LDF leaders were accused of theft, the UDF leaders stood accused of helping to sell the loot, he charged.
He termed that scams, the solar scam, which rocked the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government and the CMRL scam regarding the alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited to a firm run by the daughter of the Kerala Chief Minister, were the hallmark of both the UDF and the LDF in the State.
The Prime Minister also used the venue of launching the development projects to counter the LDF criticism that the NDA government was adopting a stepmotherly attitude to the development needs of the State by stating that the Union government made a record allocation for infrastructure developments in its annual budget and Kerala too benefited from the projects.
He left the State for Tamil Nadu in the afternoon.
Published – March 11, 2026 09:04 pm IST
