No ‘Modi wave’, voters will not fall for BJP’s ‘marketing gimmick’: Oomen Chandy

Coimbatore: Kerala’s Congress chief minister Oomen Chandy referred to the claims of a Modi wave sweeping across the country and said the BJP’s attempts to “divide the people on communal lines would not succeed.”

In democracy, there was only “people’s choice” and not “Modi wave”. The electorate would not fall for the “marketing gimmick” of BJP’s prime ministerial hopeful Modi who was projecting his Gujarat as the top ranking state.

According to a survey by India Today magazine, Gujarat was ranked fourth only in terms of development and infrastructure in the country, Chandy argued.

He asserted that the Congress decision to go it alone in the election in Tamil Nadu would be proved right. The enthusiasm of the voters and the Congress cadres was “visibly high” as the Congress had decided to fight it alone, he said. “People know that only the Congress can provide a secular, stable government. So, Congress will be the people’s choice.”

Asked about a spate of scams hitting the Congress-led UPA government’s image, Chandy said the Congress leadership had not protected any of the culprits. “Even Union ministers were put in jail. So, the Congress government did not protect any corrupt persons”. The Congress-led government had pushed through the Lok Pal bill to fight corruption despite strong resistance from the Opposition parties, he said