Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused Congress of double standards on investigations by Central agencies into leaders of various Opposition parties.
Addressing an election campaign rally of Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate C.A. Arunkumar at Chennithala in the Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday, Mr. Vijayan said the Congress vehemently opposes Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate when they investigated its leaders. “However, when these agencies target members of other Opposition parties, the Congress welcomes it. It is a good sign that the Congress attended the rally in Delhi to protest against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. At the same time, it should be noted that Leader of the Opposition in Kerala V.D. Satheesan welcomed the ED probe against T.M. Thomas Isaac,” he said.
‘Silent on CAA’
The Chief Minister added that the Congress stand on major issues aligned with that of Sangh Parivar. Both the Congress and the Sangh Parivar had the same mindset on issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). “The Congress manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is silent on the CAA. It is not ready to oppose the CAA. In a sense, this shows that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who have no respect for the Constitution. On the other hand, manifestos of both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Communist Party of India (CPI) have pledged to repeal the CAA and other draconian laws,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that whenever secularism was at stake in the country in recent times, the Congress had failed to oppose it. “Violence has been unleashed against minority communities in different parts of the country. It is part of the RSS and Sangh Parivar’s agenda, which is to convert India into a religious State. The question is why the Congress is not able to oppose the RSS agenda. Its stand on issues like CAA is the same as that of the RSS and Sangh Parivar,” he said.
MPs criticised
The Chief Minister said that both the Congress and the BJP were following the same economic policy resulting in the country slipping to 107th in the Global Hunger Index. He criticised UDF MPs from Kerala for not raising important issues in Parliament in the past five years and failing to protect the State’s interests.
Agriculture Minister P. Prasad and Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian attended the meeting.
