After Bengal, BJP’s special focus on Kerala: Gopal Krishna Agarwal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It's official now. BJP is going to shift its focus heavily on Kerala. It's just waiting for the election in West Bengal to be over.

To achieve the political target, the party would draw new strategies to confront the CPM head-on.

The efforts would be to hold the CPM responsible for the economic crisis and development stagnation the state encounters. Following are the excerpts from a freewheeling chat with Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP national spokesperson in charge of Kerala and a chartered accountant by profession.

"We have stopped the practice of contesting elections for the sake of it in Kerala. After West Bengal, BJP’s political focus is largely on Kerala. It’s only bound to increase in future," says Agarwal who is in Kerala in connection with the assembly election.

The party, he says, is confident of winning the hearts of Kerala voters and forming the government in a matter of a few years.

"This is not a pipe dream. We just need to explain our development agenda to people and convince them. If a state like UP can achieve tremendous strides in terms of economic development in a span of few years, Kerala with its intellectual capital, spices and tourism potential can do wonders," he said, adding that governments that always fight with the centre won’t be able to make major developmental strides.

According to Gopal Agarwal who had earlier been attached to West Bengal election, it was the prominent presence of Marxists that scares investors away from Kerala.

"The basic concept and attitude of Marxists towards wealth creation are flawed. They talk about the distribution of wealth. For that, the basic requisite is the creation of wealth. But unfortunately, Marxists won't address the aspect of wealth creation. Private capital is still anathema for them. They can’t perform the role of a facilitator," he said.

Good economics is good politics, he says and claims that the economic policies that the BJP government under the leadership of Narendra Modi follow are focussed on long term development and growth. The new amendments brought in by the centre on agriculture laws, he claims, would be beneficial to lakhs of farmers while it would go against the interest of a few others.

"Our reform initiatives focus on the long term agenda. It’s this point we want to reiterate in Kerala. Once in power, BJP would show the dogged and proven commitment towards the infrastructure and industrial development of Kerala. The establishment of waterways, food processing units, value addition of spices, rubber and agriculture produce would be our focus. Once an investment-friendly ecosystem is established, its economic growth and employment opportunities would follow. These are not claims. We have practised and proved it in the states we are in power," he said.
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