Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has become a "hotbed for anti-national forces" due to the "misgovernance" and vote bank politics by the parties which were in power in the state over the years, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Sunday.

Fadnavis, who was in the state capital as part of the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign, said that Kerala ought to have been at the forefront and leading the technological and new economic revolution of the country. But, the state was going backwards and not forwards, despite its high literacy rate and "wonderful talent", due to the LDF and UDF's "similar agenda of corruption and oppression", he alleged.

He further alleged that "due to misgovernance, it (Kerala) has become a hotbed for anti-national forces and just for vote bank, the local governments are shielding the anti-national forces". "That is why I feel that it is high time that Kerala should come into the mainstream," Fadnavis said at a press conference here.

On being asked about the recent Kannur bomb blast that claimed a life and injured three others -- all CPI(M) workers according to the police -- Fadnavis said that "criminalisation of politics has always been here". "Now that the Election Commission is proactive, all such attempts would be unearthed," he replied.

Regarding queries about the recent telecast of the controversial film -- The Kerala Story -- on Doordarshan, the Maharashtra Deputy CM said that once a movie is cleared for public viewing by the censor board, there is no bar on its telecast on any platform.

During his press conference, he also praised various central schemes and projects of the Narendra Modi government. Giving details, Fadnavis said that thanks to the initiatives taken by the BJP government at the Centre, 25 crore people have been brought above the poverty line in the country in the last 10 years, around 20 crore people got well-constructed houses and about 50 crore people got tap water in their homes.

He further claimed that due to the proactiveness of the Modi government, there has been a lot of infrastructure development -- like highways, the launch of new trains like Vande Bharat, the doubling of airports in the country and an increase in ports. "Therefore, I see a surge in the support in every state and every community and this time we are very hopeful that in Kerala also we will get a significant number of seats and votes. "I think this is one election where a 10-year incumbent government is facing pro-incumbency and not anti-incumbency," Fadnavis said.

He also urged everyone to vote for Union Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is contesting from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. Fadnavis said that every vote to BJP candidates goes to PM Modi and would help to give him a third term.