CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over remarks he made about former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during a recent INDIA bloc meeting, saying the Lok Sabha LoP has been urged to stop being the "facilitator for the ED and Modi government".
The comments relate to the June 8 meeting of opposition leaders, where Gandhi said he "cannot hug" Vijayan because of his political differences with the veteran Left leader.
Left parties have repeatedly objected to allegations made by Gandhi and Congress leaders ahead of the Kerala assembly election, in which they suggested there was a tacit understanding between the CPI(M) and the BJP.
"Nobody is asking Rahul Gandhi to hug Pinarayi Vijayan," Baby said on Saturday, responding to Gandhi's remarks.
"On the contrary, all that we are asking is that he stop being a facilitator for the ED and the Modi government by demanding the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan and other opposition leaders. That is not the job of the leader of the opposition," he said on X, a day after Gandhi released his comments made at the INDIA bloc meeting.
Gandhi said, "We have our fights, but if you're asking me to go and hug the ex-chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and I will not because I have an ongoing political fight with him."
"So we have to be flexible, and we have to realise that there is a full-scale assault on us trying to prove that the opposition is weak, is disorganised," he added.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, during the INDIA bloc meeting, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas had raised concerns over allegations made during the assembly polls campaign, including claims of a tacit understanding between the Left and the BJP.
Ahead of the meeting, Baby also wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and objected to the allegations, describing them as inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation within the opposition alliance.
At the meeting, Brittas said that while the CPI(M) could politically contest charges made by Congress leaders, it was different when such remarks came from Gandhi, one of the principal faces of the alliance.
He argued that the alliance had come together to fight the BJP and questioned the purpose of partners sitting together if one constituent publicly accused another of helping the ruling party.