KOZHIKODE: CPM cadres and supporters have voted in large numbers across the state for the UDF in the recently-held Lok Sabha election and the Congress-led front is poised for a clean sweep by winning all 20 seats, KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran has said.
Mullappally said cross-voting in favour of the UDF from the CPM camp was primarily due to the party cadre’s resentment against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s ‘arrogant’ style of functioning. Speaking to reporters here, Mullappally said, in constituencies such as Vadakara, the voters’ opposition to murder politics and the candidature of P Jayarajan were also the reasons for the large-scale shift of votes from LDF towards UDF.
“It was the district and local leadership of the CPM who wanted me to contest from Vadakara this time. When Muraleedharan’s candidature was announced these CPM leaders secretly advised me what to do at each stage to ensure his win,” Mullapally said and dared the CPM leadership to deny it. He also claimed the UDF has got the support from a section of the LJD led by M V Shreyams Kumar.
The KPCC chief accused Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and CPM Politburo member M A Baby of wrecking a common platform led by Rahul Gandhi to defeat the ‘fascist’ Modi Government due to their blind hatred towards the Congress.
Mullappally said the CPM’s bogey of ‘Ko-li-Bi’ (Congress-BJP-Muslim League) alliance was aimed only at creating fear among the minorities and garnering their votes. He said he will quit politics if the CPM is able to prove its allegation of electoral understanding between the Congress and the BJP. Similarly, if any Congress leader has entered into any truck with the BJP, that leader will not remain in the party.
Training his guns on the Chief Minister, Mullappally said part of the credit for the UDF’s stellar performance in the election could be attributed to Pinarayi Vijayan’s arrogant style of functioning. He cited the ‘foul language ‘repeatedly used by Pinarayi against UDF candidate N K Premachandran as one of the instances which have alienated the voters from the CPM.
“The Chief Minister represents the most disgusting face of fascism. He is not a Communist. A true Communist will not have so much intolerance,” Mullappally remarked.