Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Polit Bureau member A. Vijayaraghavan, who is contesting from the Palakkad Lok Sabha constituency, says that only the Left can oppose “religionisation of politics.“
“The Left’s space is absolutely necessary in Parliament as no one speaks for labourers, peasants, and the exploited sections,“ he said in an interview with The Hindu. Parliament needs more Left MPs as ‘a galvanising force’, added Mr. Vijayaraghavan, who is also the general secretary of the All India Agricultural Workers Union.
A former convener of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), Mr. Vijayaraghavan had won the Palakkad Lok Sabha seat in 1989. He served a term in the Rajya Sabha also.
On the CPI(M) choosing him to reclaim the Palakkad seat it lost to the Congress during the pro-Rahul Gandhi wave in the 2019 general elections, Mr. Vijayaraghavan said that the party hand-picked the apt candidates to win the polls. “The just-ended Lok Sabha session saw only legislation taking place. Without Left representatives, discussions and debates were absent,“ he said.
‘Kerala, the best performer’
On the perceived anti-incumbency against the LDF government, he said Kerala was the best performing State in the country. ”The Left government has effectively utilised human resources, especially in the higher education sector, in a planned manner during the current tenure. However, the Centre has employed the Governor (Arif Mohammed Khan) to torpedo these plans and has also misused the Central agencies to destroy the federal structure of the Constitution,“ Mr. Vijayaraghavan alleged.
Kerala, he said, was also the best fiscally managed State, using its capital investment to boost the economy. Then again, the Centre blames Kerala for borrowing funds. Our policy is to generate more income for the people. “The LDF returned to power based on these policies. But those opposing us are trying to create a narrative that they have an upper hand in the election campaign. The biggest debate in Kerala during the Lok Sabha polls is the anti-minority stand of the Centre. The Congress has no clear stand on this,“ Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
He attributed the victory of V.K. Sreekandan of the Congress from Palakkad last time to the widely created impression that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would become the first Prime Minister from a constituency in Kerala. “This resulted in the victory of almost all Congress candidates. There is no such thing now,“ Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
His priorities
Regarding his priorities for the constituency, he said that Palakkad had an industrial culture and played an important role in the industrial corridor linking Kochi and Coimbatore. “Palakkad has the best irrigated lands for cultivation. Leveraging modern technology to augment agricultural income is imperative. Besides, the information technology-enabled sector and skill development segment offer promising avenues through collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology in Palakkad,“ he said.
Palakkad has two major railway junctions – Palakkad and Shoranur. “However, it is unfortunate that less than 10% of the vast railway-owned land is utilised for infrastructure development. My priority is to envisage projects to address this issue. Moreover, there is a pressing need for long-haul trains from these junctions,“ Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
