AICC general secretary Venugopal launches poll campaign in Kerala, trains guns at Pinarayi and Modi

“When UPA was in power, the debt of the country was only ₹58 lakh crore. Currently, it is ₹155 lakh crore and this is the only sector in which the Narendra Modi government fared well. The country is facing the worst joblessness in the last 40 years. It’s now at 10.05 per cent while during the UPA, it was 5.6 per cent,” Venugopal said.

The senior Congress leader attacked the Centre and said the price of cooking gas, petrol and diesel are now at an all-time high.

“When the UPA government used to waive off agriculture loans, the BJP government is now waiving off corporate loans. Narendra Modi and the BJP need to understand that their fake guarantees will not work anymore,” Venugopal said.

Also Read: All rhetoric, no announcements: Modi reaches out to Kerala women

Modi visits Thrissur, but not Manipur

He also criticised the visit of Modi to Thrissur twice in one month.

“Modi visited Thrissur twice. We all know why, but he failed to visit Manipur, which has been burning for months. Let me make it clear, we will not allow the BJP to open an account in Kerala,” he said.

Attacking the Left government, Venugopal said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was probably the only non-NDA CM in the country who can sleep peacefully without the fear of the ED knocking on his door.

“All the so-called protests happening in Kerala and New Delhi are just part of the adjustment-politics between the Centre and the state governments,” he said.

The Congress leader flagged off the election campaign and the statewide march jointly led by KPCC president K Sudhakaran and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, VD Satheesan.

‘Samaragni’ plans to cover 20 Lok Sabha constituencies and culminate at Thiruvananthapuram on 29 February.

Addressing the gathering, Sudhakaran alleged that “Pinarayi Vijayan was ruling for his family alone”.

The KPCC president even alleged that even though there are many allegations against the chief minister, he was not arraigned as an accused in any of the cases because of his understanding with the BJP.

Sudhakaran expressed hope that the Congress-led UDF will bag all the 20 Lok Sabha seats from Kerala. The UDF had won 19 Parliament seats in 2019.

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