THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Congress former president and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi’s recent three-day constituency visit and his press meet have landed the party in the state and nationally in a spot. The BJP on Sunday accused the Congress of forming a ‘radical syndicate’ along with the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Popular Front of India and supporting extremism in the country.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi claimed that when Gandhi was contesting the 2019 general elections from Wayanad, people across the country were shocked to see more flags of Jamaat-e-Islami than of his party in the political rallies there.
He also alleged that Gandhi never misses a chance to meet the families of PFI members and those who were arrested by police for involvement in anti-national activities. It is surmised that Naqvi was referring to Gandhi’s recent meeting with Raihanath, wife of journalist Siddique Kappan who was arrested on his way to meet the rape victim’s family in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP has alleged that Kappan has links with the PFI. The CPM leadership in the state has also been harping on the Congress’ attempts in forging an alliance with the Welfare Party, the political arm of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Reacting to Naqvi’s charge, UDF convener M M Hassan told TNIE, “During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the WPI had extended their support to all 20 UDF candidates. If they had put their flags along with the Congress flag, it is their discretion.
They had not put their flags in the Congress party’s office. This is nothing but the BJP’s ploy to rake up communal sentiments.”Gandhi’s visit had already put the state Congress in a tight spot. During his visit, he differed with the state leaders’ views of the LDF government. Gandhi termed Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan blaming the spike in Covid-19 cases on the lowering of guard during Onam celebrations as unfortunate as the state government has been doing a great job in combating the pandemic.
The state Congress leaders were red faced when Gandhi added that the state government’s decentralised approach to the pandemic has resulted in a favourable outcome.
The only saving grace for the state Congress was when Gandhi urged both the state and the Centre to fight the pandemic together.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala felt the heat and tried to play down the Gandhi’s praise for the LDF government’, saying being a national leader, he need not always speak about issues in the state. State-centric leaders are good at commenting on the issues here, he said.
Gandhi’s stand on the central probe agencies also stumped the state leaders. When the state leaders have been vociferous about the need for a probe by the central agencies in gold smuggling case and Life Mission scam, Gandhi said the CBI and Enforcement Directorate are being pressured to carry out probes against the ruling BJP’s opponents.
This forced KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran to say, “Rahul Gandhi had referred to CBI’s investigations in various cases in North India and not in Kerala. He was talking about investigations against Congress leaders at the national level.”