'B' team of BJP within CPI-M: Kerala Congress chief

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Congress president M.M. Hassan on Thursday slammed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and ruling CPI-M secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan for their "attitude as if there is no alternative to the BJP in the country".

Hassan, speaking at the 133rd anniversary of the formation of the Congress party, here said that matters are "such that there is a B team of the BJP in the CPI-M".

"They are strongly working against forming an alternative against the BJP, even when the Congress party all along has stood for secularism to fight the communal forces, and hence they are against forming a secular front to fight the BJP.

"Vijayan appears to be strongly opposing CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury`s stand on this issue, and there is every reason to suspect that there is a B team of the BJP in the CPI-M," said Hassan.

The ideological battle between Yechury and his predecessor Prakash Karat is currently on whether there should be a tie-up with the Congress party to fight the BJP, as the former is strongly batting for it, while the latter, who has the near total support of the Kerala unit of the CPI-M, is against it.