MALAPPURAM: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Thursday said it takes stands based on issues, indicating that it will not be reluctant to diverge from positions taken by the Congress leadership in Kerala. The League has dissented on its senior UDF ally’s stance on the matter of removing the governor as chancellor of universities in the state.
The party also clarified that national-level impact will be considered when taking positions in the state. The visible change in the position of the IUML is likely to elevate the level of confusion in the UDF. It is also likely to disappoint the Congress leadership in Kerala that would have been looking forward to deploying the entire political arsenal at its disposal against the LDF government.
While reacting to the “invitation” of the CPM to join the LDF, IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty quipped that the IUML doesn’t have a history of switching political affiliations like one changes clothes.
“Some misinterpreted the chief minister’s statement as an invitation for the IUML to the LDF,” he said in Malappuram. “We criticised the state government for their way of running the universities. We raised concerns in the assembly that people are not satisfied with the functioning of varsities. At the same time, we took a stand that the governor should be removed from the post of the chancellor. That doesn’t mean the IUML and the CPM are going to join hands.”
Kunhalikutty said the governor’s is a national-level issue. “Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have had similar troubles with governors. The IUML organised the biggest protest against the second Pinarayi government on the Wakf Board issue. At the same time, secular parties should join hands on national issues like CAA and NRC and Uniform Civil Code.”
He alleged the state government has failed to resolve the buffer-zone issue. “The IUML stands with farmers and people who will lose their land and properties if the one-kilometre-buffer-zone limit is fixed. The government should have acted early to avoid the present situation. Pinarayi asked people not to worry about buffer zones. But that statement is not enough. He should take measures to make the Union government and the Supreme Court aware of the issues of the people in the state,” he said.
I WAS MISINTERPRETED, SAYS WAHAB
The League also tried to play down the controversy arising out of the statement of the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, P V Abdul Wahab, that BJP leader V Muraleedharan acts as an ambassador of Kerala in Delhi. “Wahab gave an explanation to the party chief Panakkad Sadiqali Shihab Thangal on the issue. He regrets making such a statement,” state general secretary P M A Salam said in Kozhikode. Salam added that the main enemy of the IUML is the BJP and the RSS. Wahab also took to social media to explain that his statements on Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar had been misinterpreted.