bY IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Sonia Gandhi’s whirlwind election campaign tour to Kerala, where she touched down at four places Wednesday, lashing out at the Left government in the state, drew huge crowds.
Gandhi arrived in Kozhikode Tuesday night and her first stop Wednesday morning was at Vadakara in north Kerala. Thousands of Congress supporters braved the heat to hear her speak.
“The three year rule of the Left government here has spelt doom for the people of Kerala. What have they done for the people here? And don’t forget that it was the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that had given more than Rs.40,000 crore for various projects in the state,” Gandhi said to loud applause.
Congress candidate from Vadakara Mullapaly Ramachandran said: “I am really delighted that she chose this constituency and her visit has thrilled the Congress workers. This will help my campaign.”
Gandhi’s next stop was the cultural capital Trissur, where she spoke on the same lines and asked the people to vote for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Touching down at Kottayam, the crowd was even bigger and like in the other places she introduced the candidates of the Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Speaking to the media, veteran Kerala Congress (Mani) supremo K.M. Mani who has been a legislator since 1965 said: “Her (Sonia Gandhi) speech was very encouraging for the cadres. You just wait and see, we will sweep the elections.”
Her last engagement was in Thiruvananthapuram at the Central Stadium where a mammoth crowd had gathered to hear her.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the UDF could win only one of the 20 seats in the state.
Kerala goes to the polls April 16 and the Congress is contesting 17 seats with the rest kept for its allies.