THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress president Mullappally Ramachandran on Friday alleged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan‘s intervention to ensure the release of BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally from a UAE jail was part of the Chief Minister’s attempt to strengthen his ‘unholy alliance’ with the BJP.
Mullappally’s response to reporters came on a query on whether the Chief Minister had any political gain in mind when he intervened in the issue. In an indirect reference to the SNC-Lavalin case, Mullappally said Pinarayi was afraid of ‘certain cases’.
This fear had prompted Pinarayi to strengthen his ‘secret understanding’ with the BJP by swiftly intervening on behalf of NDA leader Thushar Vellappally. On the CPM’s admission that it erred on matters of belief, Mullappally asked whether the party’s state unit still subscribes to Karl Marx’s statement that religion is the opium of the masses. “By exhorting its cadre to establish their dominance in places of worship, the CPM and Sangh Parivar have become two sides of the same coin,” he added.