Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning in Kerala today for "Metro Man" E Sreedharan, called the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition Congress-led UDF "only different in name" and said their "match-fixing" was the "worst kept secret" of Kerala politics.
"For many years, the worst-kept secret of Kerala politics was the friendly agreement of UDF and LDF. Now, the first-time voter of Kerala is asking - what is this match-fixing? Five years one loots, five years the other loots," said PM Modi, addressing an election rally in Palakkad.
"Both have their marked areas for making money. UDF has not even spared the rays of the sun."
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 1,20,95,855 with 56,211 more people testing positive for the infection in a span of 24 hours, while 271 more fatalities pushed the death count to 1,62,114, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Tuesday.
Registering a steady increase for the 20th day in row, active cases have increased to 5,40,720 comprising 4.47 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.19 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,13,93,021, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19.