New Delhi: AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal said it is shameful for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to Kerala just to spread communalism. He said that Kerala is the land of social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru and Ayyankali, and Modi should first learn its history.
After Modi targeted the Congress party over its association with the Muslim League, accusing the party of promoting hardline elements in Kerala, Venugopal said that when Babri Masjid was being demolished in Ayodhya, the Muslim League was assisting Ayyappa devotees in Kerala. He noted that the Muslim League was in the forefront in efforts to douse the fire in the Angadippuram temple.
He said he does not understand why BJP leaders come to Kerala and make communal remarks similar to what they make in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. PM Modi’s intention is to fool people of Kerala, but they will give a deserving reply to his such attempts, Venugopal said.
Modi reached Thiruvanathapuram on Friday and attended an NDA event in Kerala’s capital. There, he alleged that the LDF government "was corrupt and was hindering Kerala's development by opposing Central initiatives and looting people's hard-earned money through cooperative bank scams." Targeting the CPI(M)-led ruling alliance, the prime minister also accused the LDF of leaving "no stone unturned to tarnish the traditions of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala."
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cited an alleged brutal assault on a pastor in BJP-ruled Odisha to hit back.
"The brutal assault on a pastor in Odisha is not an isolated crime; it reflects the atmosphere of violence and hatred being systematically fostered by the Sangh Parivar. Forcing a human being to eat cow dung is a deeply inhuman act, emboldened by the silence and complicity of BJP-led governments," the CM said.
Vijayan said that as the country marks 27 years since the gruesome killing of missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, it was evident that the same forces of intolerance continued to operate with impunity.
"Not just in Odisha, but across India, the secular fabric of our nation is under sustained attack. This coordinated attempt to undermine constitutional democracy and impose the Sangh Parivar's communal politics must be firmly resisted," he said.