Shah sets target of 20k seats, 25% vote share for NDA in local body polls

Thiruvananthapuram: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday urged BJP members in the state to work hard to ensure the NDA wins over 20,000 seats and secures 25% of the votes in the upcoming local body elections. The state has a total of 23,612 wards across its local self-govt institutions, including grama panchayats, block panchayats, district panchayats, municipalities and corporations.

Addressing party workers at a ward-level leadership meet at Putharikandam Maidan, Shah said BJP had established its presence in all booths in Kerala and would form the govt in the state after 2026 assembly election.

"If the people of Kerala want development, they have only one choice — the BJP. They should end the practice of alternating between LDF and UDF," Shah said. He inaugurated the leadership meet after opening the new BJP state office.

Shah said BJP's vote share had risen from 11% in 2014 to 16% in 2019, and it touched 20% in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Both LDF and UDF had been involved in corruption whenever they were in power, while the NDA govt led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not faced any corruption allegation. He said the 2020 gold smuggling case was the biggest corruption scam ever sponsored by a state govt in the country.

"A developed India is not possible unless south Indian states develop. And Kerala's development is not possible without BJP," he said, adding that the party would wrest power in Tamil Nadu also in the upcoming assembly election.

Shah asserted that BJP was not a north Indian party as claimed by political opponents. "BJP won and formed the govt in Assam. BJP wrested power from CPM in Tripura. It also came to power in Odisha. Opponents always used to dismiss BJP's efforts to form govt in these states, but we proved them wrong. After the 2026 assembly election, the BJP-led NDA would form govt in Kerala too," he said.

Shah alleged that under LDF and UDF govts, Kerala had become a hub of corruption, appeasement, violence and anti-national activities. "The CPM-led LDF govt did nothing to stop the emergence of Popular Front of India (PFI) as an anti-national force. It was the Modi govt that banned PFI when it started making its presence in other states, posing a threat to the country. PFI is still alive in Kerala in different forms. CPM must clarify what action the LDF govt has taken against this communal terror group," he said.

Shah said BJP placed the welfare of the country above the interests of its own cadre, but the focus for CPM was always on the welfare of its own cadre. PM Modi has declared adherence to three principles: corruption-free governance, non-discriminatory governance and the end of vote-bank politics, he said, adding that Kerala can progress only by following the path laid down by Modi and his govt.