Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were in poll-bound Kerala on Saturday, taking swipes at each other’s parties and at the CPM-led Left Democratic Front government.

Modi accused the Congress and the CPM of each being a “factory of lies”.

He slammed them for dubbing films like The Kerala Story, The Kashmir Files and Dhurandhar as lies while allegedly spreading false narratives about the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, the proposed uniform civil code and the Citizenship Amendment Act to create panic among the public.

“These days, the Congress and the CPM are spreading lies about the FCRA and UCC. Goa has had a UCC for decades, but they are spreading lies about it. They also did the same with the CAA. They are in the business of spreading lies,” Modi said at an election rally in Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta.

Modi’s Kerala visit, with just five days left for the Assembly polls, appeared to energise the NDA camp.

The Prime Minister said his government was helping Indians from Tamil Nadu, Goa, Kerala, Telangana and Puducherry, currently working in the Gulf, to return
safely.

He accused the Congress of endangering Indian expatriates in the region by making provocative statements on the West Asia crisis.

“The BJP government is actively engaged in rescuing them, with hundreds already returning safely to India. Their lives are precious to us. It’s high time the Congress apologise to the people of Kerala as they have been engaged in selfish politics,” he said.

Modi heaped praise on Tiruvalla candidate and state BJP general secretary Anoop Antony, saying the younger man’s shift to Kerala politics was a personal loss to him.

“Anoop Antony has been my right-hand man in New Delhi for the last five years. He had been working quite silently and diligently without anyone taking much notice of his work,” he said.

“But when I realised that Keralam will benefit from the works of this young man… even though it will be a loss for me, I have come here to hand over Anoop to you (the people of Kerala).”

In the evening, Modi led a massive road show in Nemom, the Assembly constituency in Thiruvananthapuram that state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar is contesting from. The BJP has high hopes about Chandrasekhar winning from a seat it considers a stronghold.

Modi has been impressed with Chandrasekhar for ending the CPM’s 45-year rule over the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, where the BJP won 51 of the 101 wards in the last election.

Thousands of BJP supporters thronged both sides of the road to see Modi.

Rahul, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, attacked Modi while addressing an election rally in Alappuzha.

“I’ve been repeatedly alleging a tacit understanding between the BJP and the LDF. How come Modi did not raise the Sabarimala temple gold heist during his campaign in the state?” he said.

Rahul alleged that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was in cahoots with the same people who were spreading hatred across India, and that a hidden hand was running his government.

“The LDF calls itself ‘Left’. But today, there is nothing ‘Left’ about the Left Front. And after this election, there will be nothing left of the Left Front,” Rahul said.

• Kerala votes on April 9