Kottayam: Launching a blistering attack on Left parties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said West Bengal and Kerala have suffered under their rule as they refused to change with time and remained on the "wrong side of history".
The Left had not only failed to help the states which they ruled to march ahead but "they also try to give garb of ideology to political opportunism", Singh said, taking on the communist parties in the LDF-ruled Kerala at an election meeting here.
"It is unfortunate that the Left Front refuses to change with time. The result is that they pursue policies and programmes that are not relevant to time", Singh said.
"When I came during the Lok Sabha polls I had said that our Left friends are on the wrong side of history. I reiterate that", he said in his first campaign meeting for the April 13 Kerala Assembly polls.
Singh said everybody was aware of the "damage" done to West Bengal by the Left Front by their more than three decades rule and they also failed to take Kerala forward.
"Under the LDF rule your state (Kerala) has not progressed as much as it could have and should have." While the interests of the common man were neglected under the Left rule, CPM party workers gained at the cost of ordinary people, Singh said.
He said due to the "wrong" policies of the LDF, the state had failed to attract any private projects as the entrepreneurship had been discouraged and failed to create a climate conducive for investment.
Singh also attacked the LDF rule for failing to take proper advantage of the central schemes despite the UPA at the Centre extending all support for Kerala in every sector. Appealing to voters to bring UDF to power, Singh said what Kerala needed for rapid growth was a government that would work hand in hand with the UPA government at the Centre.
"LDF lives in the past. On the other hand UDF stands for future of Kerala. We need to reverse the present state of affairs. We need to build a climate that attracts investment and creates more jobs, especially for youth", he said.
Outlining the achievements of the UPA government in the last seven years, Singh said it was committed to rooting out corruption in public life.
The main objective of the Right to Information Act was to ensure transparency in governance and corruption-free public life, he said.
The policy of the UPA was to ensure inclusive growth by giving emphasis to interests of all sections while expediting economic progress, he said.
The Prime Minister said there was no basis to the LDF's allegation that the Centre had been neglecting the state and cited welfare schemes like rural and urban generation programmes, to highlight the support extended to Kerala.
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