Arrest of Kejriwal to divert attention from electoral bonds scam: Kerala CM

Kannur, Mar 25 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the electoral bonds scam is the biggest corruption ever witnessed in India and added the BJP government at the Centre arrested his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to divert attention from the same.

Addressing the third consecutive rally organised here by the CPI(M) against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Sunday, Vijayan alleged the BJP-led Central government and the Sangh Parivar give scant regard to the rule of the law in the country.

He alleged that the Sangh Parivar was trying to take control of the Constitutional institutions and even threatening the country's judiciary.

"The Union government, BJP, Sangh Parivar, they all very well know that the Supreme Court order on the electoral bond scam was harmful to them. They wanted to divert the attention from this topic and for that they have arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal," Vijayan said.

The chief minister said when the idea of electoral bonds was floated, the CPI(M) had opposed it as it was a tool for corruption and moved the Supreme Court against it.

"The electoral bonds scam is the biggest corruption ever witnessed in India. How did they get the courage to engage in such blatant corruption? They (BJP) thought they would never be questioned," he added.

With the arrest of Kejriwal, Vijayan said the Sangh Parivar was trying to send a message that they are above the law of the land and will do anything to implement their agenda.

Talking about the anti-CAA protests of 2019 and the subsequent violence and riot in Delhi, the chief minister referred to the inflammatory slogans of Union Minister Anurag Thakur and said it was the CPI(M) which went on to file a case against him.

Vijayan also attacked the Congress over its stand on the CAA.

He alleged that at a time when the whole country was protesting against the contentious Act, the Congress MPs were participating in a feast organised by the party president.

"During the protests, none of the Congress leaders were present. Rahul Gandhi was abroad. It was the Left leaders who were arrested by the Delhi Police. At that time we had only one MP, A M Arif from Alappuzha who spoke against the CAA. Now, the Congress leaders are saying that they had opposed the Act technically," Vijayan said.

The chief minister alleged that the Sangh Parivar unleashed violence upon the ant-CAA protesters in Delhi and the BJP government at the Centre gave silent permission to the rioters.

"Around 53 people were killed, many went missing, over hundreds were injured in the riots. The houses, shops, establishments of numerous Muslims were attacked in the violence orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar," he said.

Vijayan said the CAA was an RSS agenda being implemented by the BJP government.

The Left party is organising massive anti-CAA rallies at five places in the state. The first rally was held in Kozhikode on March 22. A rally was held in Kasaragod district on Saturday. Two more rallies will be held in the coming days in Malappuram and Kollam.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and it subsequently got the President's assent, but there were protests in several parts of the country against it, with many opposition parties speaking out against the law, calling it "discriminatory".

The CAA aims to expedite citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. PTI