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‘BJP has nothing to show for last 10 yrs’: Satheesan
In an interview with Vishnu Varma, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan, who is overseeing the Congress campaign in the state discusses the preparations, key issues and the importance of this year’s elections
With Kerala grabbing the spotlight with an excellent result in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the state contributing the most number of Congress MPs to the Lower House, the party’s state unit is likely to be under immense pressure to repeat the achievement as all 20 seats in the state go to polls during the second phase on April 26. Though the state has always been bipolar in nature politically, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attempting to rise as the third alternative.
In an interview with Vishnu Varma, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan, who is overseeing the Congress campaign in the state discusses the preparations, key issues and the importance of this year’s elections. Edited excerpts:
Senior Congress leader AK Antony has said that this is a do-or-die election for the party and its future. Do you agree with his view?
This election concerns not just the Congress party, but also the country. The question is whether the country will continue to exist or not. There is a lot of concern and insecurity among a vast section of people including minorities. There is a fear that anything could happen if they (BJP) get a third term. Congress is the only hope for all these people. The INDIA bloc has been formed naturally out of these fears and the Congress leads it. So the number of seats in the Congress has to go up.
What issues are the Congress party raising in its election campaign in Kerala?
First, we must overthrow this fascist government at the Centre which is creating communal polarisation and dividing people. Second, the BJP has nothing to project in terms of achievements in the last 10 years. We are attacking the so-called Modi “guarantees” and questioning them on the rise in fuel prices, LPG prices, black money, unemployment and decline in farmer incomes. We are also talking about the anti-incumbency of the state LDF government, especially the fiscal crisis. Kerala is heading into a major debt trap and all development activities are stalled. We have also alleged an unholy nexus between the BJP and the state CPM. There is a meeting point of the ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ slogan of BJP and the anti-Congress mindset of the state CPM.
BJP leaders claim that the party will win a few seats this time in Kerala and that its vote-share is growing. Are you concerned?
BJP came second in Thiruvananthapuram the last two times. In Thrissur, there was a minor difference between the LDF and BJP candidates while the UDF candidate was ahead. These are the only two seats. Nowhere in Kerala are they posing a threat to mainstream candidates. There’s no space for BJP here and they are irrelevant. But our fear is that the CPM is trying to make space for the BJP in Kerala. CPM’s main enemy is Congress. By targeting us, they are making space for the BJP. We are a secular state and very few people are voting for BJP. The secular thinking among Hindus here is more compared to other states in India. That’s why BJP is not winning any seats.
The Kerala CM has been targeting the national leadership of Congress for its alleged silence on CAA. Do you oppose CAA and is it a part of your campaign?
In our manifesto, we have made it very clear that from 2019 onwards, we have been fighting against CAA. The chief minister is trying to mislead the people of Kerala. He is lying. In 2019 in Parliament, our MPs like Shashi Tharoor, NK Premachandran opposed the CAA bill and we voted against it. The LDF is trying to appease the BJP by not withdrawing the CAA cases. Even when the Centre recently notified the rules of CAA, we organised agitations across Kerala.
The stand of the Left and the Congress is broadly the same on issues like CAA, UCC and the Manipur violence. Don’t you think the minorities in Kerala would be confused on who to vote for? Won’t it end up affecting the UDF’s chances?
There is insecurity and concern among minorities about the return of BJP. What is the alternative? CPM is seriously contesting only 19 seats in India out of 543 including 15 in Kerala, two in Tamil Nadu, one in Rajasthan and one in Tripura. Their situation in Bengal is very bad. So people know that they (CPM) cannot remove the Modi government without the support of Congress (at the national level). All secular people know that and they want the Congress strength to go up. No party can form a non-BJP government at the Centre without the support of Congress.
In 2019, UDF won 19 out of 20 seats in Kerala and the state sent the most number of Congress MPs to Lok Sabha. Isn’t there great pressure on the state unit to repeat such a fantastic result?
Definitely. We lost the Alappuzha seat last time by around 10,000 votes. This time, we will win the seat. Last time, though we won Kottayam, the Kerala Congress (M) later defected to the LDF. We will win Kottayam also. There is a very evident trend against both governments in Kerala. There is also a silent trend against the Modi government across the nation. Whenever governments commit excesses, the people silently watch and react. The arrest of Kejriwal, the release of electoral bonds data and the freezing of Congress accounts will affect the ruling party.
In an election where women votes and representation of the female gender are considered highly significant, the UDF has only 1 woman candidate out of 20 in Kerala while LDF has 3 and NDA 5. Comment?
We took a political decision to field most of the sitting MPs this time. In Alappuzha, we have fielded AICC (general secretary) KC Venugopal because he is the best bet. We are sorry that we could not field more women candidates. But at the same time, when a vacancy came up in Rajya Sabha, we sent Jebi Mather, a woman, to the Upper House. So (the low number of women candidates) will be compensated in the upcoming elections.
The Left leaders, particularly Kerala CM, have been talking about the frequent defections from Congress to BJP and how the party cannot be trusted. How do you counter it?
I want to ask the Kerala CM that when he was the state secretary of CPM, its senior-most leader and former finance minister V Viswanatha Menon left the party to join the BJP and contested elections. It was the first case of a senior mainstream party leader in Kerala joining the BJP. The second case was the Left MLA Alphons Kannanthanam joining BJP and becoming a union minister. So, senior leaders from CPM have left the party. In contrast, no senior leaders of Congress have left the party in Kerala.
But children of former Congress CMs like Padmaja Venugopal and Anil Antony have left Congress to join BJP?
They are not senior leaders and they are irrelevant. If they are not keeping intact the legacies of their fathers, what can we do?
Is there a financial challenge for the Congress to fight this election? Do you have enough money to run the campaign?
It’s a very tough challenge, but surprisingly people are realising this fact. When our workers are door-to-door campaigns, the people are giving us donations of ₹50, ₹100 and ₹500. We are struggling. But we are not considering money as the major factor.
