It's going to be 20 out of 20 in Kerala: Congress

Kasargode: The Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Thursday denied the CPI-M's charge of an "unholy nexus" between the Congress and the BJP and asserted that it was going to win all 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had made the statement after knowing the "stark reality" as to what would happen to the Left Front in the polls.

"They have now realised that it's going to be pretty tough for them as it's going to be 20 out of 20 for the UDF. Balakrishnan's statement is nothing but taking anticipatory bail," said Chennithala.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha members. The Congress-led UDF won 12 seats in 2014 and the CPI-M-led LDF eight.

On Wednesday, Balakrishnan alleged that an "unholy alliance" between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had surfaced and that the BJP was contemplating putting up weak candidates in five Lok Sabha constituencies to favour the Congress.

"None who takes rice as the staple food in Kerala is going to buy this theory of the CPI-M. Across the country, it's the Congress which is taking on the BJP/RSS combine and the CPI-M says we are hand in glove. It's an absurd theory," added Chennithala.

"The whole of India knows that the fight is between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi and the people here realise that every vote for the CPI-M in Kerala is going to help Modi."