Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Kanam Rajendran has accused the Congress of adopting political double standards by backing an alleged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-sponsored Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against the State government, even while staunchly opposing the Central agency’s interrogation of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case in New Delhi.
He also rued the lack of unity among Opposition parties in the country while addressing the delegates of the CPI’s Thiruvananthapuram constituency conference here on Monday.
Mr. Rajendran accused the Centre of misusing official machinery for political witch-hunts across the country. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has come under constant attack by agencies including the ED and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) during the last two years. The United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had joined hands to destablise the government, he said.
The CPI leader lamented the inability of Opposition parties in fielding a consensus candidate for the President’s post. He blamed certain parties including the Trinamool Congress for purportedly sabotaging efforts to forge an anti-NDA coalition in the country.
“The NDA had come into power with 31% and 37% of the total votes polled in the General Elections of 2014 and 2019 respectively. Such statistics prove that a majority of the country opposed BJP rule. However, the disunity within the Opposition ranks paved the way for their monopoly,” he said.
He alleged that the lure of the Prime Minister’s chair had often prompted the leaders of certain regional parties to shun attempts to unite non-BJP parties. Besides, parties such as All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP) had strived to split vote bases for their individual victories during elections. Such narrow-minded policies had often benefited the BJP, said Mr. Rajendran.
He also stressed the need to address growing fissures within the Left front. He said the lack of coordination among the coalition had led to alienation of many constituent parties. While the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc had joined the UDF, CPI (ML) and CPI (ML) Liberation had contested elections on their own in recent times.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil, CPI State executive committee member C. Divakaran, and district secretary Mankode Radhakrishnan were among those who participated. Rakhi Ravikumar and Vattiyurkavu Sreekumar were elected the secretaries of the party’s Thiruvananthapuram and Vattiyurkavu constituency committees respectively.
