THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With elections fast approaching, Kerala politics is witnessing allegations and counter-allegations. Both the LDF and UDF have accused each other of RSS connections.It was the CPM leadership which first raised allegations over Congress leaders’ soft Hindutva approach. On Friday, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan termed Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala as the RSS sarsanghchalak within the Congress party.
Meanwhile, Congress mouthpiece Veekshanam shot back, quoting from an article carried by BJP mouthpiece Janmabhumi, which pointed fingers at CPM politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai’s RSS links. With it becoming a point of discussion, Pillai admitted that he used to be part of the RSS shakha till the age of 16, after which he joined the Communist movement.
Kodiyeri was the first to target Chennithala. In an article in CPM mouthpiece Deshabhimani, Kodiyeri termed Chennithala as the RSS sarsanghchalak in the Congress. In his article headlined ‘The colour of Rama is not saffron’, Kodiyeri alleged that Chennithala wears the RSS attire better than even Sangh workers.
The CPM leader accused the Congress of trying to play a soft Hindutva card on various issues like Ayodhya, triple talaq and Citizenship Amendment Act. “As far as the Congress, BJP and the Muslim League are concerned, the Left front and CPM are their prime enemies. That’s why the Opposition has been trying to come up with baseless stories against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” alleged Kodiyeri.
Going one step further, Kodiyeri alleged that Janmabhumi is advocating the cause of Chennithala, son of an RSS sympathiser. “What the BJP state president says against Pinarayi in the morning will be repeated by Chennithala in the evening,” said Kodiyeri.
Meanwhile, Congress’ Veekshanam carried a counterattack on the CPM. Quoting from an article carried by ‘Janmabhumi’, the Congress shot back stating that veteran CPM leader and politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai used to hold the position of RSS shikshak at Sreekrishnapuram panchayat in Kayamkulam.
It went one step further stating that Kodiyeri has been eyeing the post of the chief minister, once Pinarayi vacates the post. “SRP is a threat to Kodiyeri in this respect. It should even be suspected whether this is a ploy by Kodiyeri to bring to the fore SRP’s RSS links, as a counter against such a move,” says Veekshanam.
It learnt that Chennithala has decided not to react to Kodiyeri’s allegation for the time being. A host of UDF leaders including the KPCC president and Muslim League leadership have rallied behind Chennithala.
A few days ago, Chennithala had alleged that Kodiyeri is known to come up with highly aggressive communal comments and said the people of Kerala are aware of his DNA. This had triggered Kodiyeri to come up with the article targeting Chennithala’s late father.
KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said in a statement here that the article by Kodiyeri is nothing but an attempt to save the chief minister who is lying on a bed of nails over a series of corruption charges and there is an effort to distract the attention from the gold smuggling case. He warned that the CPM should never think that Chennithala can be targeted and attacked who has always been a secular leader.
V T Balram, MLA, came up with a vicious attack on Kodiyeri stating that the latter was “hitting below the belt” and that he had a dirty mind.