Pinarayi Vijayan questions IUML, Jamaat electioneering plank

Kerala Chief Minister alleges that Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala is working to aid the communally divisive BJP in State

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Jamaat-e-Islami had approached minority community voters with a curious theory.

Both parties had argued that the Congress would disintegrate if the LDF came back to power. A UDF defeat would prompt Congress leaders to defect to the Hindu majoritarian BJP in droves. Hence, the UDF needed to sail to victory in the Assembly elections.

Mr. Vijayan said the IUML and the Jamaat-e-Islami had shown contempt to Muslim voters by insulting their intelligence. Congress leaders would switch sides to the BJP only if they win the elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently acknowledged the harsh truth. The fickleness of Congress legislators was evident in mass defections in Puducherry recently, he said.

The Centre and BJP-ruled States have abandoned minorities. They felt safe only in Left-ruled Kerala. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala was working overtime to aid the communally divisive BJP to gain a toehold in Kerala, he added.

On KIIFB

Mr. Chennithala has parroted the disinformation and lies BJP-backed Central agencies had leaned on to target the LDF government. He had conspired with the BJP to discredit KIIFB, Kerala’s engine of growth. However, he had welcomed KIIFB projects to his constituency in Haripad with open arms, said the Chief Minister.

The Congress has threatened to disband Life Mission, the government’s flagship to provide free and modern housing for the poor. Mr. Chennithala has promised to dismantle the Kerala Bank. He has now set out to be the executioner of the KIIFB. Mr. Chennithala’s active collaboration with the BJP in Kerala seemed to be at odds with the Congress’s national leadership. He had corrected Mr. Gandhi, who had praised the LDF’s COVID-19 management, he said.

Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Chennithala should desist from sabotaging the State’s bid to raise funds from the open financial market to fuel Kerala’s growth.

The Opposition leader should not dash the people’s hopes for access to modern medicine, world-class schools and colleges, piped drinking water, broadband internet, safe roads, advanced mass rapid transport systems and electric vehicle-friendly transport infrastructure by joining hands with the BJP to attack KIIFB, he said.

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