Even though the Lok Sabha poll schedule hasn't yet been announced, electioneering is shifting to top gear in Kerala and the mercury levels on the campaigning trail are rivalling the searing heat across the state.
The ruling CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and its main rival, the Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front (UDF), are reluctant to spare each other from stinging criticism. As allegations flew left and right came the CPI (M) Kerala state secretary MV Govindan's claim that the Left party is the only credible party the voters can rely on in Kerala. What followed was the response of leader of the opposition VD Satheesan to the allegations levelled by Govindan against the Congress party.
Looking at the war of words, it is clear the CPI (M) has no qualms in tarring the BJP and the Congress party with the same brush.
Writing in the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani on Thursday, March 14, 2024, Govindan, an ex-minister too, claimed that whether it be the electoral bond issue or the Citizenship Amendment Act, CPI (M) is the only credible party the voters can rely on.
Govindan also argued that the CPI (M) is the only political party to move the Supreme Court against the electoral bonds. He noted that the CPI(M) was never ready to accept money through bonds. Parties including the Congress received money through electoral bonds, he pointed out.
"The CPI(M)," Govindan added, "came forward to oppose the Modi government which is going all out to polarize the voters on the basis of religion."
Govindan recalled that when Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging it.
When invited to the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury declined to participate saying that it was a political event aimed at the upcoming elections. Congress only came to this position after a few days, Govindan claimed and added that later, many Congress leaders visited Ayodhya.
"The Congress, which is has a soft Hindutva approach, is unable to confront the extreme Hindutva agenda of the BJP. It is because of this soft Hindutva approach that the Congress has lost miserably in states that directly clash with the BJP," Govindan further claimed.
He also cited the defection of Padmaja and Anil Antony as having come about because the Congress is ready to cooperate with the BJP in economic and political policies.
Kerala leader of the opposition VD Satheesan refuted the allegations and in turn claimed that it was the CPI (M) which has an unholy nexus with the BJP.
Satheesan said the Congress party has taken a firm stand against the BJP's communal politics. He pointed out that Rahul Gandhi's yatras were, in fact, against the communal politics.
So, what proof did he have for unholy nexus between CPI (M) and Sangh Parivar outfits?
"From the SNC-Lavalin (financial scandal) case in which the present Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and several other leaders were involved to the multi-crore loan scam at Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Thrissur, there has been no progress," Satheesan noted.
"In the Lavalin case hearings," Satheesan added, "the lawyers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Centre have sought 38 postponments."
A fact check here. It may be recalled that Vijayan and six other accused in the case were temporarily cleared of the charges by a CBI special court on November 5, 2013. But the CBI appealed against the order in the Kerala High Court on August 23, 2017. Vijayan was acquitted by the court. Presently, the CBI's petition against acquittal of Pinarayi Vijayan is pending in the Supreme Court.
Secondly, Satheesan continued, in the gold smuggling case of 2020, Vijayan's then principal secretary M Sivasankar was arrested, but there has been no probe against the CM..
"In the Karuvannur Cooperative bank scam, no senior leaders were arrested," he added.
Then coming to the case against the CM's daughter Veena T, two statutory authorities have found that her IT company Exalogic Solutions had illegal transactions with several other companies. But nothing has come out of the probe till now, Satheesan said. Vijayan had meanwhile rubbished the charges against his daughter saying that the "allegations were made to tarnish his image and defame him."
In all the other states where the Congress is the main rival of the BJP, the central agencies have been busy investigating and arresting the leaders, but it is not so in Kerala, Satheesan argued. "What else do you need to show the unholy nexus between the CPI (M) and the Sangh Parivar outfits?" he queried.