Cong declines to join hands with ruling CPI-M, alleges CM-BJP secret collusion
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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition (LoP), V.D. Satheesan, on Monday ruled out the Congress-led UDF’s participation in the Left Democratic Front’s protest against the Centre, accusing the Pinarayi Vijayan government of staging a “fake agitation” to hide what he termed a political understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Addressing the media, Satheesan alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his government “stand submissively before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi,” while presenting themselves as fighters against the Centre in Kerala.
“This is a government that protests outside but signs papers submitted by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah inside,” he claimed.
The Opposition leader criticised the Kerala government’s stance on Central schemes, including the PM SHRI project, saying it had already exposed its duplicity.
Satheesan made it clear that the UDF would stay away from the protest. “If the UDF joins such a protest, we too will be compromised,” he said.
The LoP alleged an “unholy understanding” between the BJP leadership at the Centre and the CPI-M leadership in Kerala, aimed at shielding each other from legal troubles.
He also accused the CPI-M of promoting majoritarian communalism, mirroring strategies used by the BJP. “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself enabled hate speeches by Vellappally Natesan, and similar statements by A.K. Balan later made the pattern clear,” he said.
Satheesan claimed that the CPI-M had shifted its strategy from encouraging minority communalism to promoting majority communalism after the last Parliamentary elections, adding that the current protest was a tactic to divert public attention from this shift.
Reiterating long-standing accusations, Satheesan alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan had risen politically with support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “Not a single Congress MLA has entered the Assembly with RSS or BJP backing. Pinarayi Vijayan, on the other hand, has done so,” he said, alleging secret engagements with RSS leaders even after assuming office as Chief Minister.
With IANS inputs