Kannur, April 23 (FN Representative) Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday came down heavily on his INDI alliance partner and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whom he appeared to be unhappy with for not being vocal about the Citizenship Amendment Act, and he also slammed the Election Commission for their biased approach and not taking action against PM Narendra Modi for his reported “hate speech” at a recent poll rally. “Rahul Gandhi should talk about the politics of the country. Rahul did not speak against CAA to please BJP,” the Left leader said addressing a “Meet the press” at the Kannur Press Club on Tuesday, where he also expressed confidence that the CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) will achieve mega victory in the Lok Sabha election from his state.There is a pro-left wave seen across the state, as per what he has seen after campaigning across all the 20 parliamentary constituencies, he added. Vijayan said the 2024 general elections are crucial in order to save the nation from a great impending danger, as it plays an important role in safeguarding the constitutional rights as well as gives an opportunity to punish the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for implementing anti-people and communal agenda over the past 10 years. He said, all the core values of the Constitution are under threat while a BJP-led Union government is in power, so the people should think wisely and vote in favour of a secular front government. He said an anti-incumbency is clearly visible against the NDA government across the nation. “BJP has an anti-Kerala approach because the Keralites do not accept them. They have not accepted them in the past or present and will not even in the future as Kerala will protect its secular mind,” he said. Rubbishing all claims of any triangular fight in any constituencies, Vijayan said the NDA candidates would only come in at the third spot in all the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala.
Coming down heavily on both Left’s alliance partners as well as the right wing, the CM said the RSS’ agenda is the implementation of CAA, but all the 18 MPs of UDF did not once raise their voice in the interest of the nation. “UDF MPs (which also includes Rahul Gandhi, MP from Wayanad) defended the Union Government and failed to raise the voice of Kerala in the Parliament,” Vijayan said. “The protection of the issues of the minorities is not only the minority’s problem, but it is also in the interest of the nation,” Pinarayi Viayan said. “The BJP understands the shortcomings of the NDA government, that is why Narendra Modi himself is ready to play the communal card to garner votes,’ Vijayan said.He also alleged that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has failed to disclose their stance for questioning the secular fabric of the nation, following the wrong policy of UDF. Responding to a question, Vjayan said the Election Commission (EC) was not acting in a non-partisan manner by not taking immediate action for the recent illegal hate speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi against Muslim community in Rajasthan. He also said the EC has been taking a silent approach against the complaint lodged by political parties.Vijayan said the prime ministerial candidate of the INDI bloc has not been selected so far and will materialise only after the elections. He also said there is no alliance with the Congress party and considered INDI bloc as only a platform for anti-BJP political parties in states to defeat the BJP-led NDA government. He reminded that while in the 2019 election, the UDF had highlighted Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate but this time around that campaign was not seen in Kerala. Speaking about his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma that a few Congress leaders will join the BJP in Kerala after the Lok Sabha elections, Vijayan said “it is a serious opinion”. Vijayan reminded that Sarma too, is an old congressman-turned a BJP Chief Minister, so his comments would be considered according to “the culture of the Congress party where leaders crossover to the BJP, whenever an investigation is initiated against them by the central agencies.