Thiruvananthapuram, March 28 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Kerala on Saturday hit out at the CPI-M-led government in the state, accusing the party of being involved in a "conspiracy" to destroy election transparency and also flagged "migration" as an issue in the state, which is scheduled to vote in the Assembly polls on April 9.

Kerala BJP general secretary S Suresh accused the state Election Commission of being involved with CPI-M.

He said, "The Chief Election Office of Kerala has become a B team of CPI-M. The CPI-M trade union activists are hijacking all the positions and official seats of the Election Commission Office of Kerala."

He further alleged, "One particular example is where BJP Kerala chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar is contesting from Nemom. Our opponent is V. Sivankutty, the current Labour Minister of Kerala. The retaining officer of this particular Nemom is a labour officer. The polling officers of Nemom, more than 100 polling officers, are from the Department of Labour. So this is part of a conspiracy to destroy the fair and free election."

Suresh said that his party has approached the Election Commission of India (ECI).

"BJP Keralam gave a memorandum to the Election Commission of India for a fair and free election, particularly in Nemom, and generally in Kerala. There should be a serious intervention by the Election Commission of India," he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Saturday approached the ECI after a controversy erupted over the alleged use of the BJP’s official seal on a circular issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in connection with election procedures in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency

According to Kerala BJP Vice President Shone George, migration is an issue in the state.

He told IANS, "Nothing is done here, compared to the nearby states that are not ruled by even the BJP, but compared to the nearby states Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, see a single industry is not started in this time, and the young generation is migrating from here to the other states and abroad."

"The main problem faced by this constituency is migration," he further emphasised.

However, one of CPI-M's allies in the government, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), contradicted that Kerala is fast progressing towards development.

LDF candidate from Poonjar Constituency, Sebastian Kulathunkal, told IANS," Kerala is a fast-growing state, and in connection with the education sector, health sector, basic infrastructure development sector and industrial development are very fast-growing, and Kerala is moreover number one in India. Development activities here are now very strong and impactful."

Furthermore, Kulathunkal accused the Central government of discrimination.

"We have faced floods in Wayanad and elsewhere. Central government has not given any financial assistance or any support to us," he alleged.

--IANS

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