CM Vijayan pointed out that it was due to a complaint raised first by the Congress against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that he is in jail now….reports Asian Lite News
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday slammed Rahul Gandhi and the Congress a day after the INDIA bloc protest rally in Delhi where the latter shared the stage with CPI(M)’s General Secretary Sitaram Yechury.
Taking potshots at the grand old party, CM Vijayan pointed out that it was due to a complaint raised first by the Congress against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that he is in jail now.
CM Vijayan was addressing the media ahead of his election campaign in and around Kozhikode.
He attacked Rahul Gandhi, who is seeking re-election from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and is contesting against INDIA bloc partner CPI’s candidate.
“We all know that Rahul, though not the president of the party, is the tallest leader in the Congress party. Just see, who is he contesting against in his constituency — Wayanad, it is the CPI’s Annie Raja, the candidate there. It defies logic and rationale as Congress and CPI are part of the INDIA bloc and instead of taking on the BJP he is taking on CPI candidate,” said CM Vijayan,
“What’s he up to? We all know what happened in Manipur and we also know Annie Raja was put under duress when she spoke against the incidents in Manipur. Did Rahul say anything?” asked the CM.
Incidentally in Wayanad, the BJP came out with a surprise candidate by fielding its state president K. Surendran.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-BDJS fought together and Tushar Vellapally was the candidate who finished a poor third.
He ended up with just around 78,000 votes which accounted for a mere 7.25 per cent, while Rahul Gandhi won with a staggering margin of over 4.31 lakh votes — the highest margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
Kerala BJP takes a dig at Rahul
Kerala BJP President K. Surendran on Monday said that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is scared of Muslim leaders and that is why he is not visiting Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“The Ram devotees in Wayanad have started to ask, why Rahul Gandhi is not visiting Ram Mandir. It’s now proved that Rahul’s secularism is one-sided. He is scared of the Indian Union Muslim League, Jamaat-e-Islami and the SDPI that is why he is not visiting Ram Mandir,” Surendran said while addressing the media at Kalpetta in Wayanad.
Surendran said that Rahul Gandhi may visit Ram Mandir after April 26.
He said that Rahul Gandhi will visit Wayanad on Monday to file his nomination and while he hugs CPI General Secretary D. Raja in Kerala, in New Delhi, they are opposing each other.
“People have understood this hypocrisy. Why are you having one political stand in Delhi and another in Kerala? Why did you oppose the appointing of a Schedule Tribe woman for the post of President? Why is the President of India being ridiculed by Congress? The Wayanad constituency that Rahul represents has around 20 per cent Scheduled Tribe community and yet he opposes the President,” he said.
He said that Rahul Gandhi and Congress protest against the ongoing Enforcement Directorate action on Aravind Kejriwal but will they do the same if ED investigates Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter?
BJP questions SDPI’s tie-up with UDF
In a scathing attack on his electoral opponent in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Kerala BJP President, K Surendran on Tuesday asked sitting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to explain the tie-up with SDPI, the political wing of the proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI).
Surendran attacked MP Rahul Gandhi and his party after top SDPI leaders on Monday said they had decided to support the Congress-led UDF candidates in the April 26 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala.
Referring to the SDPI as PFI, Surendran said the new-found relation was dangerous to the political fabric of the country.
“The Congress claims to be a secular party and being so, why are their state leaders now saying that they will have to discuss the statement of the SDPI leaders. In Wayanad also the SDPI has pledged its support to Rahul. Rahul should explain this tie-up,” said Surendran.
Kerala Congress President, K Sudhakaran said the party will discuss the issue and then make its position clear on the SDPI’s statement.
“What is baffling is, why should the Congress leadership engage in a discussion on this issue of taking support from a terror outfit? It’s doubtful if there is a deal between the SDPI and the Congress and this has to be explained by the latter,” added Surendran.
Surendran is contesting against Rahul Gandhi and the CPI’s candidate Annie Raja for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat which the senior Congress leader won with the highest margin of over 4 lakh votes in the state in the 2019 polls.