Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the Congress, calling it a ‘recruiting agency’ for the BJP. Speaking in the assembly, he questioned its ideological ability to fight fascism and cited numerous leaders who defected to the BJP.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday slammed the Congress for merely criticising the left ruling parties, and said that it has now become a “recruiting agency” for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Kerala CM was speaking during the state assembly session.
Congress now a ‘recruiting agency’ for BJP
Asserting that action without ideology was impossible for Left movements, CM Vijayan questioned whether the Congress, in its current form, can politically fight prevailing fascism and declared that the party has now become a “recruiting agency” for the BJP. Addressing the motion of thanks to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, the Kerala CM listed several leaders who joined the BJP after leaving Congress. He further claimed that in states where Congress had won elections, its MLAs were put up for sale and bought in bulk, allowing the BJP to come to power. The Kerala Chief Minister stated that the state has also witnessed unprecedented horse-trading and group defections within the Congress party at the local level. He noted that members elected on the Congress symbol have joined hands with the BJP to subvert the people’s mandate, even in instances where an LDF representative should have been elected as president.
“You are trying to project yourselves as having a stance by merely criticising the Left. Action without ideology is not possible for Left movements. Fascism has to be resisted politically and ideologically. Can the Congress do even that, even to a limited extent?” said Vijayan.
“Today’s Congress has effectively turned into a recruiting agency for the BJP. If one looks at the list of leaders who moved from Congress to the BJP, it includes former Chief Ministers and PCC presidents, N.D. Tiwari, S.M. Krishna, Rao Inderjit Singh, Jagdambika Pal, Satpal Maharaj, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and many more,” said CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
MLAs ‘put up for sale’ in Congress-won states
“Look at what happened in the states where Congress won elections, Arunachal Pradesh in 2014, Manipur in 2017, Goa in 2017, Karnataka in 2018-19, and Madhya Pradesh in 2020. Congress won, but who came to power? The BJP. How did that happen? Congress MLAs were put up for sale and bought in bulk. The Karnataka ‘Operation Lotus’ model was even seen at the local level in Kerala, in the Mathur area of the Puthukkad Assembly constituency in Thrissur. Unprecedented horse-trading and group defections took place there as well. Members elected on the Congress symbol joined hands with the BJP, subverting the people’s mandate, even when an LDF representative should have been elected president,” added Vijayan. (ANI)
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