BJP national president J P Nadda on Monday said Kerala has been playing a significant role in the development of the country, but the good work being done by the people of the southern state "was getting marred" by the "petty politics" of the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF in the state.?

Nadda, who is in Kerala for a public meeting here on the occasion of the Narendra Modi government completing nine years at the Centre, said that while the state was playing a significant role in the country's development, "it was not being rightly placed or projected".

"There is a lot of contribution being done by the Kerala, but because of petty politics of LDF-UDF, the whole good work being done by people of Kerala was getting marred," he said at the public meeting held here.

Nadda said while the southern state was known as 'God's own Country' and its people are peaceful and hardworking, "sadly times have changed so much that the state has become 'rakt-rangit'. A lot of bloodshed has taken place."

"Intellectual pursuits have been challenged by physical assaults in this land, which is very detrimental, saddening, it is concerning and a hurdle in the progress of Kerala," he said.

He further said the time has come to oppose the forces who use force to quell or subjugate thought and instead support those who are working for the progress of the state.