Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8 (IANS) AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal on Thursday night launched a sharp attack on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, describing the latter’s interaction with the media earlier in the day as “the lament of a defeated captain after losing a war” and accusing him of pandering to majoritarian communal forces in an attempt to salvage his political standing.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s remarks, Venugopal said the people of Kerala, who value peace and communal harmony, would not be misled by what he termed the “escape tactics” of a leader unsettled by political setbacks.

He said the decisive verdict delivered by voters against the LDF in the recent local body elections had left the Chief Minister deeply shaken, prompting what he described as one of the most dangerous and irresponsible statements made by a person occupying a constitutional office.

Venugopal alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan had emerged as the Sangh Parivar’s most useful ally in Kerala, even acting as its spokesperson by articulating positions that, he claimed, they themselves hesitate to voice openly.

The Chief Minister, he alleged, was now engaged in what he termed “research” on how to appease majoritarian communalism.

The allegations levelled against the Congress, Venugopal said, were opportunistic in nature and entirely devoid of any factual basis.

Accusing the Chief Minister of distorting history, Venugopal said the CPI(M) follows a convenient and shifting line on Jamaat-e-Islami — portraying it as a progressive force when it aligns with the LDF and branding it communal when it does not.

He asserted that the people of Kerala were not forgetful, recalling that Deshabhimani, the CPI(M)’s party organ, had published an article thanking Jamaat-e-Islami in 1996, that former state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had expressed gratitude to the organisation in the Assembly, and that Pinarayi Vijayan himself had welcomed its support during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

He also pointed out that Jamaat-e-Islami had stood with the Left during the Marad riots.

Venugopal took strong exception to the Chief Minister’s criticism of political public relations, asking whether it was not on the advice of PR agencies that the Chief Minister went to Delhi and allegedly made remarks that insulted Malappuram and its people.

A Chief Minister constitutionally bound to uphold communal harmony, Venugopal said, had no moral authority to make statements that could provoke unrest.

Votes should not be sought by deepening communal divisions or spreading hatred, he warned.

Mocking the Chief Minister’s claims of a corruption-free Kerala, Venugopal alleged that those involved in the alleged gold theft linked to Sabarimala were protected from both sides, calling the government’s anti-corruption rhetoric hollow.

He said the SIT report filed in court alone was sufficient to expose the contradictions in the Chief Minister’s claims.

Responding to claims that the LDF would win 110 Assembly seats, Venugopal said the coming election would result in what he described as the CPI(M)’s most humiliating defeat, adding that Pinarayi Vijayan himself would earn credit for it.

–IANS

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