THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) kick-started its campaign for assembly elections on Sunday by painting the LDF and the BJP with the same brush and accusing the CPM and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of “deliberately trying to communalise” Kerala.
Speaker after speaker at the launch of the ‘Aishwarya Kerala Yatra’ — the UDF’s statewide election campaign — targeted the CPM for trying to demonise the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). “The chief minister is pitting Hindus against Muslims and Muslims against Christians,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, who is leading the yatra from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram. “Why does Vijayaraghavan (CPM state secretary in-charge) hate the Muslims so much? Why does he hate the IUML so much?” Chennithala asked. Vijayaraghavan has been consistently accusing the Congress of being subservient to the League and the Muslim-majority party of opening the doors of the UDF to “Islamist” outfits.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who flagged off the yatra at Kumbla in Kasaragod, said the LDF government wasted its mandate by indulging in violent and hate politics and spreading communalism for the past five years. Chennithala said Panakkad’s family always gave thrust to secularism.
“WHEN Babri Masjid was demolished, there was no bloodshed in Kerala because of efforts of Panakkad Shihab Thangal,” Chennithala said.He said it was dangerous to portray the Muslims in Kerala who had given land and helped build temples and churches as communalists.
“The CM is playing with fire by creating a chasm between Muslims and Christians,” he said. Chandy said the LDF government had no intention to resolve the Sabarimala impasse but it shattered the peace in the state by challenging the devotees. Chennithala said if the UDF comes to power, it would bring in a law to protect the faith of devotees.
Chandy said the LDF government did not bring in any big projects but managed to balloon the debt to Rs 3.2 lakh crore from Rs 1.57 lakh crore when the UDF left the government. IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty said the CPM claimed it was resisting the communal politics of the BJP across India. “But in Kerala, it was parroting the BJP,” he said.
“If the LDF government was confident of its work, why was it indulging in hate-mongering and spreading communalism?” he asked.The yatra would culminate in Thiruvananthapuram on February 22.