THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress veteran AK Antony has unleashed a tirade against the ruling Left government by branding it an entity steeped in 'arrogance, corruption and lavishness'. The Congress Working Committee member warned that if the LDF government returns to power, the state will be in danger and the seeds of disaster will be sowed. Antony also blamed the LDF government for its stubborn stand on the Sabarimala verdict.
The senior Congress leader who came to the state after more than an year following the pandemic was talking to reporters at Indira Bhavan on Wednesday. The 80-year-old politician, who has always come out with hard-hitting statements against political opponents, came down heavily on the LDF and NDA before kick-starting his campaign for the UDF later this week.
Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s move to a sober demeanour, Antony maintained that the change of style and nuanced statements are just words of wisdom to hoodwink the voters.
“Now Pinarayi is claiming that the Sabarimala issue will be taken up when the Supreme Court takes up the issue and that the stakeholders will be taken into confidence. The Opposition had pleaded with the LDF government not to show haste. If they had taken this stand then, they would not have faced this crisis,” said Antony.
He warned that devotees and women will never pardon the LDF government. The senior Congress leader also criticized the Left government over its 'politics of violence'. He referred to the political murders of Shuhaib in Kannur and Kripesh and Sarathlal in Kasaragod. The Chief Minister changing his tone doesn’t mean that the people, mostly women, will forget these murders, he said.
“The youths in the state have been a harried lot, with the Public Service Commission being converted to a party commission. When they go to the polling booths on April 6, they will exercise their franchise against the LDF government. Pinarayi had branded the fishermen community as the state’s Army. Now the Left has cheated them by signing an MoU with an American firm on deep sea fishing,” added Antony.
Recalling Flory Pereira, martyr of the 1959 liberation struggle, Antony quipped, "No pardon, no pardon for the LDF government for joining hands with the US firm on the deep sea fishing scam."