PM tears into LDF govt in Kerala over Sabarimala issue;conduct "one of the most shameful behaviour"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday tore into the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala over its conduct in the Sabarimala temple issue, saying this will go down as "one of the most shameful behaviour" by any party and government in the country.

Modi also took on the Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front(UDF), asserting it has multiple stands on the issue of girls and women in the menstruating age group of 10-50 years offering prayers at the Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district after the Supreme Court last year lifted the centuries-old ban on their entry.

As the BJP seeks to expand its footprint in Kerala, Modi also said that both the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and the UDF are "two sides of the same coin" on the issue of communalism, corruption and casteism.

Modi said for the last few months, the entire nation has been talking about Sabarimala.

''The conduct of Kerala LDF government on the Sabarimala issue will go down in history as one of the most shameful behaviour by any party and government," he told a gathering of BJP workers after officially declaring open the much-awaited 13-km long two-lane Kollam bypass on National Highway-66.

"We know that the communists do not respect the Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined they would have such hatred."
"Modi should read the Indian constitution which he is sworn to uphold rather than Manusmriti or RSS oath!," the CPI-M said in a tweet,
"I challenge the UDF, clearly state your stand on the issue. Your doublespeak has been exposed."
Modi said the Congress and Communists were talking about gender justice in the Sabarimala issue but their actions were "just opposite."
"They are different in name, but in damaging Kerala's cultural fabric, they are the same. UDF and LDF are different names but in political violence they are the same. Different in name, but in neglecting Kerala's yuvashakthi, they are the same."
He accused both party-led fronts of "ignoring the poor."