Appealing to the people of Kerala to provide a “decisive mandate” to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the State needs a “double-engine government” for it to draw the entire benefit of the developmental efforts at the national level.
He was addressing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s Mission Kerala rally in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday (January 23, 2026) ahead of the Assembly elections.
Though there were intense speculations that the Mr. Modi would announce big-ticket developmental projects for Kerala, including a high-speed railway corridor and a metro line for the capital, he did not specifically mention any project while making a pitch for ‘Vikasita Keralam’ (Developed Kerala).
Mr. Modi accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of denying the benefits of Centrally sponsored schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana urban housing project and the PM SHRI project for schools, to the people of the State.
‘Harbinger of change’
In his first visit to the Kerala capital after the BJP captured power in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the recently concluded local body elections, he said that the win in the Corporation was “historic and a harbinger of change across the State.”
“Whenever I have come to Kerala, you have given me your love. But, this time, I can sense a new hope here. Your energy gives me belief that change will happen in Kerala. Before 1987, the BJP was inconsequential in Gujarat. But that year, we won the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, just like how it now won in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. People saw our work there and gave us power in the entire State. Just like that, in Kerala, our journey has started from a city,” he said.
He said the capital has been “kept backward in development as the LDF and the Congress-led UDF had indulged in corruption.”
“The BJP’s team has now started working with a vision for Thiruvananthapuram. Whatever has not changed till now, will change now. Thiruvananthapuram will become a model city for the entire country,” he said.
Mr. Modi said the upcoming Assembly elections will change Kerala’s direction. “The people of the State have till now witnessed only corruption, bad governance and appeasement, but BJP’s arrival will change that. The flags and symbols of the LDF and UDF may be different, but their politics and agenda are the same. These parties have zero accountability and responsibility as they know that each of them will get a chance after five or 10 years. The system remains the same, even if the government changes. Only the BJP can bring about change to this state of affairs,” he said.
On Sabarimala gold case
He alleged that gold theft had happened at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple under the LDF government. “This is Modi’s guarantee that those involved will be nabbed and punished if the BJP comes to power,” he said.
Mr. Modi said the Congress is “now known nationally as Muslim League Maoist Congress” and is now allying in Kerala with “separatist forces.”
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V.V. Rajesh presented a plan for the development of Thiruvananthapuram. He said the plan is still incomplete as the new administration has been in power for only 26 days. A development conclave will be held in February to chalk out a more detailed plan, he added.
Sabu M. Jacob, State president of the corporate-backed political party Twenty20, which joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Thursday, was also present on the stage, along with leaders of the other constituent parties of the NDA.
BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Thushar Vellappally, president of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) presented Mr. Modi wooden sculptures of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala temple.
