Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan flays Rahul Gandhi over 'soft Hindutva' politics, bats for regional alliances to defeat BJP

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the people and the Congress workers have lost faith in the Congress, adding "For whatever reason, we cannot see Congress as an alternative force to BJP."

Image courtesy: ANI

Kochi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over "soft Hindutva" politics and asserted the need for regional alliances to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was speaking at the inaugural event of the CPI(M) conference at the Ernakulam district conference. He said, "The idea of a Hindu government put forward by Rahul Gandhi at the Jaipur rally is part of the soft Hindutva politics that has already been adopted by Congress."

"Congress has always taken a Hindutva stance. There is also a policy of communal appeasement that is part of it. Rahul Gandhi`s speech is reassuring that. One by one, the Congress leaders are now leading the BJP as part of an earlier policy," added Vijayan.

Vijayan said that the people and the Congress workers have lost faith in the Congress, adding "For whatever reason, we cannot see Congress as an alternative force to BJP."

"The Left has good credibility with the people. All that can be done is to form alliances in each state with the democratic parties that are strongly opposed to the BJP. The position of the CPIM is to form a secular government. All that needs to be done is to use secular parties and groups to move forward to replace the BJP at the all-India level. What needs to be done is to strengthen the relationship with such parties," Vijayan added. 

The Kerala Chief Minister also slammed the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) alleging that they were forming an alliance with outfits like Jamaat-e-Islami against the communist government.

"The UDF and the BJP are now trying to create communal polarization in the state. We can see that in the new media. The Sangh Parivar and Islamic extremists want to create communal tensions. Both groups help each other. They are carrying out challenges that are destroying the secularism of Kerala," he added.