A heated adjournment debate in the Assembly on the crude bomb explosion outside AKG Centre, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] headquarters, ended in an Opposition walkout on Monday. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had resorted to ‘obfuscation and disingenuous denials’ when the Opposition confronted him with ‘pointed questions’ about the ‘fishy’ incident.
The government had allowed the debate on the adjournment motion moved by Congress legislator P.C. Vishnunath to put ‘politically embarrassing’ speculations about the happening to rest.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Mr. Vijayan had no explanation on why Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P. Jayarajan had jumped the gun and blamed the Congress for the attack. Mr. Satheesan said the ruling front ‘celebrated’ the incident to distract public attention from scandals dogging the government. The police enabled the attack by scaling down night patrol, he alleged.
‘Police did not chase’
Puzzlingly, the officers in front of the AKG Centre failed to chase the ‘bomb-thrower’. He said the police were in the dark about the attacker’s identity or motive. In the aftermath, the CPI(M) ‘unleashed widespread violence against Congress offices and workers.’ Mr. Satheesan said Mr. Jayarajan and senior leader P.K. Sreemathy had arrived at the scene within seconds. “Did they have a premonition of the attack?” Mr. Satheesan asked.
He said the CPI(M) used the ‘stage-managed’ event as a perfect foil to hide the awkwardness caused by damning disclosures against the administration. The ‘bomb culture’ was alien to Congress. In contrast, several CPI(M) workers had lost limbs during bomb-making.
The ruling front’s riposte focussed on the ‘combative style’ politics of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran. Mr. Vijayan alleged that Congress stocked lethal bombs in its offices in Kannur when Mr. Sudhakaran was the DCC president. Moreover, Mr. Sudhakaran immediately blamed Mr. Jayarajan for the attack. “Many in the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) do not agree with Mr. Sudhakaran’s ways,” he said. Mr. Vijayan also linked an earlier bid on Mr. Jayarajan’s life to Mr. Sudhakaran.
Mr. Vijayan said the AKG Centre attack was well-plotted. The conspirators were harbouring the attacker. "The police are getting to them," he said. Mr. Vijayan said the government feared no scandals because its hands were clean. In contrast, the Congress brazenly courted discredited persons who allied with right-wing elements hell-bent on denigrating the government. The Assembly rejected the motion by voice vote.
