KOZHIKODE: Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema, the Sunni organisation that has been loyal to the IUML for decades, asserted that Muslims in Kerala preferred LDF in the elections to the assembly because they have seen through the ‘Sangh Parivar mindset’ of some of the Congress leaders.
An editorial appeared in Suprabhatham daily, the mouthpiece of Samastha, said that if the minorities stood with the LDF, it should be construed as ‘true secular democracy.’ The editorial asked the Congress to kick out ‘those who are acting as a bridge between Congress and the RSS’ and to bring leaders with impeccable secular credentials like Shashi Tharoor, V D Satheesan, K Muraleedharan and K Sudhakaran to the helm of the party.
The editorial blasted Mullappally Ramachandran and K C Venugopal for scripting a dismal performance for the Congress. “Many leaders in the Congress kept silent when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the CAA will not be implemented in Kerala. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran was one among them,” the editorial said.
It alleged that Mullappally did not turn up at Nemom constituency where K Muraleedharan was engaged in a tough fight against the BJP. The editorial even expressed doubt that Mullappally and Venugopal had blocked Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka from campaigning in Nemom.
The rival faction of the Sunnis, however, is not enthused by the new realisation of the Samastha. It alleges that the Samastha had stood solidly behind the Congress during the election campaign even after realising all these shortcomings. “Now they are trying to get the credit for the LDF victory,” said Muhammadali Kinalur, district secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) of the Kanthapuram faction of Sunnis.
“There is enough evidence to show that the E K faction of the Samastha was with the UDF in polls. Their leader Onampilly Muhammad Faizy had openly canvassed vote for the UDF saying a second term for the LDF would be disastrous for the state,” Kinalur said.