LDF & UDF's economic models stymied growth: Arun Jaitley

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite having a long coastline and qualified manpower, Kerala could not surge ahead in terms of development due to the inherent flaws in the economic model followed by both the LDF and UDF that ruled the state, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said here on Saturday .
Delivering the keynote address after releasing the NDA 's vision document for the state, Jaitley told the gathering that the economic model followed by the Left in Kerala was not a development oriented one and at no point there existed an alternative model as the Congress-led UDF too blindly followed the Left model.
"Both the fronts gave emphasis in keeping certain vote banks with sectarian appeal. It helped them gain power even without the presence of a sustainable development model. I must say the state was let down by its politics," he said, adding that BJP along with some of its allied organizations have been waging a lone battle for long but it was difficult to muster a basic minimum strength to make any visible impact in the electoral politics. "We now ha ve that basic minimum strength which can put an end to the bipolar politics in Kerala. BJP's strength was visible in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and in the local body elections last year. Tri-party politics has already begun in Kerala," he said.
He said a state like Kerala should have tried to make use its coastal resources, service sector and tourism. But the LDF and the UDF were banking on the foreign remittance, rather than creating job opportunities here. The only two states, other than the hill states, in the country that have deficit budget are West Bengal and Kerala, he added.
"Till a few years ago, the BJP was trying to improve its vote share and find an entry to the state assembly . Now, the situation has improved in such a way that the BJP-led NDA was contemplating an electoral victory capable of forming a government," he said.