Left Front wanted 'crown prince' of Cong to be ousted from Wayanad: Modi takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the "crown prince," Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Tuesday that the Left front wanted the "yuvraj" (prince) to be ousted from Wayanad in Kerala.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday announced candidates for four Kerala Lok Sabha seats, nominating senior party leader Annie Raja to contest from the Wayanad constituency, a seat presently held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"The Left wants the crown prince of Congress to be ousted from Wayanad. These people are advising the crown prince to stay out of Kerala," PM Modi attacked Rahul Gandhi.

PM Modi said that the two alliances are "each other's enemies" in the state but "outside Kerala, they are Best Friends Forever".

"They (Congress and Communist parties) are each other's enemy in Kerala, however, outside the state they are BFF that means Best Friend Forever. They have a different language in Thiruvananthapuram and a separate one in Delhi, people of Kerala would respond to this fraud in the upcoming elections," PM Modi said, addressing a rally in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

He further continued his attack against the alliance and said that Congress and its other communist alliances have only one priority i.e. to focus on their family rule.

"They only let their family rule the country. For them, the welfare of their family is superior to the welfare of Indians," he said.

He further said that the BJP third term will work on the development of educational institutions in Kerala.

"Everyone knows about the struggle faced by the students of the poor and the middle-class in Kerala while pursuing higher education. Our third term will work on the development of educational institutions in Kerala. This will pave the way for opportunities for students hailing from poor and middle-class families," he added.

PM Modi further said that the opposition has accepted its defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"It (Opposition) does not have a road map for the development of the country, hence it has made only one agenda, to abuse Modi. I know that Kerala will never stand with those having such negative thoughts, Kerala will bless the BJP and NDA for nation-building. People are walking shoulder to shoulder with BJP on the streets, which in itself is a big message," he added.

The Prime Minister further asserted that in his third term, India is set to become the world's third-largest economy.

"Everyone is talking about the third term of the Modi government. In our third term, India is set to become the world's third-largest economy. This is 'Modi Ki Guarantee'. In our third term, our fight against corruption is going to be more defined," he added.

Rajya Sabha MP and CPI (M) Secretary Binoy Viswam questioned the political logic of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Kerala.

"North India is considered the hotbed of India, from where the maximum number of MPs have come to the Parliament, where the BJP is a powerful force to fight. Forgetting that reality, what is the political logic for the Congress to come to southmost India, to Kerala, where there are just 20 seats? It is known to everybody that no one from the BJP will be able to win from Kerala. From where should he fight exactly? The essence of the earlier battle of 2019 is there when Rahul Gandhi did the same thing when he came to Wayanad from Amethi. BJP started a campaign, which got the cash. They said Rahul Gandhi was afraid of the BJP that's why he ran to Kerala. This campaign resulted in the defeat of Congress in the entire North India," Binoy Viswam said.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) is part of the INDIA bloc, which came into existence to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by PM Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the Lok Sabha elections. Kerala has a total of 20 Lok Sabha seats.