Vijayan accuses Cong of ‘aiding’ BJP’s rise
Vijayan’s critique of the Congress in an article published in a local newspaper on Wednesday came a day before the CPI(M)’s Kerala state conference begins in Kollam.
Kochi: Kerala chief minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Congress of adopting an “arrogant” approach towards regional parties opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning how “secular and democratic voters” of the country could trust such a party.
Vijayan’s critique of the Congress in an article published in a local newspaper on Wednesday came a day before the CPI(M)’s Kerala state conference begins in Kollam. While the Congress leads the opposition UDF in the southern state, ruled by the CPI(M)-led LDF, the two parties are allies in the INDIA bloc at the national level.
“In states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the farmer protests had caused significant blowback for BJP in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. And yet, it was the Congress policies that led to BJP coming to power in those states. It claimed to have the strength it never possessed. It stood against the accumulation of secular votes. And so, the Congress adopted a role that worked against the public sentiments (to unseat the BJP). By splitting the secular votes, it helped the BJP win in those states,” Vijayan wrote.
He said that a classic example of the Congress’ “arrogance” towards other parties fighting the BJP was the Delhi assembly elections. He claimed that despite having won no seats in the previous two elections, the Congress was fixated on defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Vijayan cited ECI data to argue that the Congress’ stand helped the BJP win 14 seats in the Delhi elections. He cited the examples of constituencies like Timarpur, Greater Kailash and Mehrauli where the Congress votes were more than the winning margin between the BJP and the AAP.
“The Congress may have had differences with the AAP leadership. But it should have tried to sort out those differences and work together to defeat the BJP. Congress says something but its actions indicate otherwise. How can secular parties trust the Congress? Parties like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) must ponder,” the veteran leader added.
Vijayan said if the Congress does not strive to include and accommodate other parties which can defeat the BJP, the results in Delhi will repeat in other states where polls are due in the next couple of years.
In Kerala, the Congress and the larger UDF are stitching alliances with minority communal forces like the SDPI and the Jamaat-e-Islami, he alleged, adding the temporary electoral gains that the Congress is targeting will only indirectly help the BJP-Sangh Parivar in the long-term.
Rejecting Vijayan’s claims, Congress leader VD Satheesan accused the CPI(M) of making “compromises” with the BJP.
“In Delhi, the AAP refused to join hands with the Congress. So, as a national party, the Congress also contested the elections. The chief minister’s party also contested elections there. If it had not contested, it’s 0.4% vote-share could have gone to AAP. This is double-standards,” the leader of Opposition in the assembly claimed.
“Congress has always taken an uncompromising stand against the Sangh-Parivar. When has Rahul Gandhi compromised with BJP? It’s the CPM which has made compromises with BJP. The CPM’s new finding is that the BJP is not a fascist party. This discovery comes at a time when Congress and other parties have termed the Narendra Modi government a fascist regime,” Satheesan added.
