NEW DELHI: A day after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) criticised the Congress for extending support to actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu, another INDIA bloc ally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), on Monday also targeted the grand old party.
It said the Congress’ approach did not help strengthen unity among secular forces against the RSS-BJP.
CPM general secretary MA Baby said the Congress’ conduct was “not helpful” in building cohesion among opposition parties for a united fight against the RSS-BJP, which he described as “the need of the hour”.
He also accused the party of making “baseless allegations” against the Left during the Kerala Assembly elections.
“The attitude of the Congress towards other opposition parties does not help build the unity of secular forces in a united fight against the RSS-BJP, which is the need of the hour,” said Baby.
He added that elections should be fought with dignity and decorum, but alleged that the Congress had not maintained such standards. He also condemned what he described as baseless allegations by the Congress leadership, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, regarding a CPM-BJP “deal” in Kerala.
The CPM general secretary was speaking at a press conference in Delhi on Monday, briefing the media on discussions held during the party’s three-day Central Committee meeting, which concluded on Saturday.
The committee held a preliminary review of the political, organisational and ideological factors behind recent election results.
Baby further said that although the BJP had won only a limited number of seats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, its wider influence remained a concern.
“A broad feature of these election results is the consolidation of Hindutva communal forces in the society and their assumption of power in West Bengal. The victory of the RSS-BJP in West Bengal and its return to power in Assam are a matter of deep concern for all secular, progressive and democratic forces,” read a statement issued by the Central Committee on Monday.
He also said the Kerala state committee was already collecting feedback from various levels of the party to analyse the reasons for its electoral setback, after the Congress-led alliance wrested power from the Left in the state.
The findings will be discussed in detail at state secretariat and committee meetings scheduled from June 5 to 8 in Thiruvananthapuram, which will also be attended by a team of Polit Bureau members. He added that the party’s re-entry into the West Bengal legislature was a positive development.
Meanwhile, DMK Youth Wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, speaking at a party event, said the DMK should “never trust the Congress again”, accusing its leaders of lacking “basic gratitude and decency”.
