Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja kicked off her campaign in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, even as the Congress remained ambivalent about incumbent Rahul Gandhi’s candidature.
Addressing the media before her roadshows at Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta on Friday, Ms. Raja said fascism had reached its extreme state in the country, and that she would continue her fight against fascist forces. The forthcoming election was the final chance to defeat fascist movements, and the voters should utilise the opportunity, she added. Ms. Raja alleged that the fascist forces were intimidating their political foes by misusing government agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and the Income Tax department.
Answering a question on the congruity of the contest between two candidates of the same alliance (INDIA block), Ms. Raja said since the country followed the parliamentary democracy system, and that it was the privilege of each party to represent itself in Parliament, Ms. Raja said.
Politics in Kerala were quite different from other parts of the country as it was a political fight between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), which was decided during the formation of the INDIA alliance, she said.
On the possibility of her success in the election, Ms .Raja said, ”I came here to contest and win.” She added that she would adopt effective steps to mitigate man-animal conflict if elected to power.
National leaders of the CPI had already urged Mr. Gandhi not to contest in the constituency, “but if he contests we would consider it as the decision of the Congress party,” she said.
On the death Siddharth, a student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Pookode, Ms. Raja said she was of the hope that the State government would arrest the culprits soon.
