THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The election battle in Palakkad is between LDF and UDF, CPM state secretary M V Govindan has said. “The LDF is in a stage to capture the constituency,” he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
“The BJP has already been pushed to the third place in Palakkad. After the election date was declared, nine leaders in Palakkad left the Congress alleging a Congress- BJP nexus. K Surendran had alleged that Shafi Parambil received Rs 4 crore. This proves that there is also a deal for vote trade, besides the hawala deal. In Thrissur, it was Congress votes which went to the BJP. The UDF had taken a soft position against the Kodakara hawala deal. Even after the state police arrested 28 accused and wrote to the ED and IT department to take over the case, nothing happened,” he said.
Govindan also claimed that the votes garnered by BJP candidate E Sreedharan last time will not go in favour of the saffron party this time.
The CPM secretary alleged that the central government is not taking a favourable stand towards the state in the Wayanad rehabilitation process. “Had the Union government declared it as a national disaster, there would have been chances for the state to get financial aid from international and national agencies besides the national disaster response fund.”
He alleged that some elements are trying to destroy the communal harmony in the state in view of the Munambam Waqf land row. “The government has taken a stand that the issue should be resolved on the basis of a dialogue. The CPM also supports this,” he said.