AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the CPI(M), accusing the party of targeting Rahul Gandhi out of “political insecurity” and blaming him for its own electoral setbacks.
Reacting to recent criticism from CPI(M) leaders, Venugopal said the Left party was unable to objectively assess the reasons behind its poor performance, particularly in Kerala, and was instead diverting attention towards Gandhi.
“Instead of analysing the reasons for its dismal electoral performance in Kerala, the CPI(M) is trying to target Rahul Gandhi. If it continues on this path, even bigger defeats await the party,” Venugopal alleged.
He further compared the CPI(M)’s criticism of Gandhi to self-deception, saying, “blaming Rahul Gandhi for the CPI(M)'s problems was akin to ‘breaking a mirror because one's face looks bad’.”
Venugopal also argued that outside Kerala, the CPI(M)’s presence in Parliament was sustained largely due to support from the Congress and its allies, calling its criticism of Gandhi “ironic”. He added that several CPI(M) leaders had also secured victories outside Kerala with the backing of the Congress-led alliance.
He said the INDIA bloc was formed at the Congress’s initiative to protect democracy and the Constitution from what he described as the “BJP’s authoritarian tendencies” and to politically defeat the BJP.
According to him, while the Congress follows a national political vision, the CPI(M) is driven by narrow regional considerations, which he claimed has contributed to the decline of the communist movement in states like West Bengal.
Venugopal also defended Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress leader has been at the forefront of the opposition’s fight against the BJP and has himself faced political targeting.
His remarks came a day after senior CPI(M) leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party general secretary M A Baby, criticised Gandhi. Vijayan had said Gandhi’s political approach does not strengthen the INDIA bloc and sometimes ends up benefiting the BJP.
Responding to questions about Gandhi’s reported comments at an INDIA bloc meeting that he would not hug Vijayan due to political differences, the former Kerala CM said he was not concerned about personal gestures.
“But we all saw the photograph of Rahul Gandhi hugging Narendra Modi. My objection is not to the act of hugging Modi itself. Rather, his remarks represent a particular political message. It reflects Rahul Gandhi's approach and how he views the INDIA alliance,” Vijayan had said.
(With inputs from PTI)