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Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of living in perpetual fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that he was “looking for ways to appease the BJP.”
Addressing a press conference in Kochi on April 20 (Saturday), Mr. Satheesan said the Chief Minister’s criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi “in far worse manner than how the BJP did was part of this ploy.”
“The Chief Minister and the CPI (M) have declared Mr. Gandhi as their principal opponent,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister was exploring ways to avoid criticising Mr. Modi.
Mr. Satheesan accused the Chief Electoral Officer of “doing nothing” on repeated complaints lodged by the Congress and cited the alleged interference of a CPI(M) booth-level agent during a vote from home at Kalliassery in Kannur as testimony to “the fact that voting is not being held in a free and fair manner at the ground level.”
Mr. Satheesan said people were being booked for as much as forwarding a WhatsApp post allegedly defamatory of the LDF candidate (K.K. Shailaja) in Vadakara. However, none had so far seen the said post.
The Chief Minister has turned Kerala into a State where no criticism of Mr. Modi was brooked, he said citing how a Youth Congress activist was booked for sharing a post critical of Mr. Modi over the alleged corruption in electoral bond scheme.
‘Religious polarisation’
Mr. Satheesan said that the alleged interference of the police disrupting the Thrissur Pooram was “part of a conspiracy” to create a political space for the BJP in Thrissur where the fight was between the UDF and the LDF.
“It is part of a ploy to shift votes to the BJP, which has kept many CPI(M) leaders terrorised of imminent arrest in the Karuvannur cooperative bank scam. Efforts are being made to communalise a secular festival. The Chief Minister has been indulging in religious polarisation along the lines of the BJP over the last 35 days,” he said.
He alleged a political drama in “delaying” probe of Central investigative agencies in the cases against the Chief Minister’s daughter in the CMRL pay-off case and the Karuvannur bank case.
“The probe has been going on for long and action should have been taken by now. Now a political drama may play out towards the end of voting to create the impression that there was no understanding between the CPI(M) and the BJP,” he alleged.
Mr. Satheesan said the CPI(M) has “no moral right” to criticise the Congress in the electoral bond scheme as their submissions with the Election Commission prove that they had received donations from the same companies which had donated to the Congress and the BJP through electoral bonds.
“We have received money through accounts under a system that was prevalent in the country, while the CPI(M) had accepted cash directly,” he alleged.
