Kochi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday attended the BJP Kerala State Leadership Meet in Kochi. District. Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other senior leaders felicitated Amit Shah at the meeting. The meeting comes ahead of the local body elections in the state.

Earlier , Amit Shah at the Manorama Conclave said that the BJP was poised to come to power in Kerala as the Communist-led state suffered from issues like corruption, weak law and order, and development lethargy.

Shah said law and order in Kerala had been compromised for votes and for the benefit of the cadre. He said the Popular Front of India (PFI) branched out from Kerala to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar , and Gujarat. Why were its activities not banned ? Shah asked. Had it not been for the Narendra Modi government, the PFI would still not have been banned, he said.

Kerala had the highest literacy rate, but it also had the highest unemployment, Shah added. Kerala has the potential to develop IT-based, semiconductor-based, and knowledge-based industries. But these have not been explored, the home minister said. He also blamed the LDF government's priorities. They don't work for the people. They work only for the cadre, he said.

The Centre had given ₹5,100 crore as disaster relief since 2014, as opposed to the ₹1,342 crore during the UPA regime, but none of this is felt, as the money flows to the cadre, Shah alleged.

Shah predicted that the BJP would corner 25% of the votes in the coming local body polls. And in the ensuing Assembly polls, Kerala will not have to depend on any of the other two fronts, he said.

In Tripura, the BJP had only 1% of the votes but is now in power. Similarly, in Assam, where they only had two MLAs, today they govern with a full majority, he pointed out. In Kerala too, the BJP has a strong base as there are people who believe in the BJP's ideology.

Hindusthan Samachar / Roshith K