The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has accused the CPI(M) of striking a tacit understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency to disadvantage the UDF. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan told mediapersons on Saturday that the understanding is being brokered in reciprocation for central agencies going slow on investigation into allegations in the Karuvannur scam and the issue involving retainers received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T. Veena from a Kochi-based mining firm.
“At the national level, the BJP is attempting to reduce the number of seats that the Congress can secure in the Lok Sabha elections. In this context, only fools will believe the CPI(M)‘s allegations that the Congress would be allying with the BJP in Kerala, where it stands to win the maximum number of seats. The BJP aims for a Congress-mukt India, while the CPI(M) has similar aims in Kerala,” said Mr. Satheesan.
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) State secretary Shibu Baby John made similar allegations at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club here on Saturday.
“The BJP knows well that only the Congress stands to gain in Kerala by weakening the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Their only aim is to reduce the number of seats the Congress can gain from the State. This situation leads to a compromise between them. Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has criticised the Union government in the Navakerala Sadas events, not once has he targeted Narendra Modi,” alleged Mr. John.
He accused the LDF and the CPI(M) of attempting to create an impression that the left parties are the only protectors of secularism, by exploiting the insecurity of minorities for political dividends.
The comments from the leaders specifically on the Thrissur seat comes in the context of the appearance in recent days of posters, graffiti and social media posts seeking support for T.N. Prathapan, V.S. Sunil Kumar and Suresh Gopi, representing the Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the BJP respectively.
