Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on Kerala’s ruling LDF government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a public meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on 12 July 2025. He said that the LDF government is immersed in corruption and the dream of ‘developed Kerala’ without the Bharatiya Janata Party cannot be fulfilled. Shah said, “Both BJP and CPI (M) are activists based party, but the difference is clear. For CPI (M) in Kerala, activist Kalyan is above the development of the state, while Kerala developed is the first priority for BJP.”
Shah enumerated three main goals for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kerala: no discrimination in corruption-free governance, government schemes, and the development of Kerala beyond political gains. He made serious allegations of corruption on LDF and Congress -led UDF. Shah mentioned explosive scam, cooperative bank scam, AI camera scam, life mission scam, PPE kit scam and the country’s largest state sponsored gold smuggling scam.
He asked Pinarayi Vijayan a question in the gold smuggling case whether the main accused used to work in his office and whether his government gave him a monthly salary of Rs 3 lakh. Shah claimed that by 2026 India would be free from Naxalism and the public is rejecting CPI (M) and Congress in Kerala.
On the other hand, Pinarayi Vijayan accused the central government of adopting a negative attitude towards Kerala. He said that disasters like 2018 floods and Wayanad landslides did not provide enough help from the Center. Opposition leader VD Satishan accused the LDF government of financial crisis and neglect of weaker sections.
Shah’s visit reflects the BJP’s strategy before the 2026 assembly elections, in which it wants to challenge LDF and UDF a tough challenge.
