Congress' Hindutva politics led to poll rout, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
The chief minister also hinted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should try to contest the next Lok Sabha election from outside Kerala
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has slammed the Congress, saying it was electorally mauled in Hindi-heartland states because it tried to replicate the BJP’s Hindutva politics.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader also said in comments published on Wednesday that its refusal to accommodate other non-BJP parties during seat sharing contributed to its electoral defeat.
Vijayan told The New Indian Express in an interview that the Congress failed to read the meaning behind the formation of the INDIA coalition of opposition parties.
“It (INDIA) was created by all the parties that oppose the BJP to defeat the saffron party. The aim was to protect secularism and to safeguard the Constitution. However, Congress failed to recognise this,” he said.
The Congress, the Marxist said, tried to copy the BJP’s Hindutva politics but this “proved to be a disaster”.
“The BJP can’t be beaten in its Hindutva game, and the ideal strategy was to channel all anti-BJP votes into one basket,” he said.
Congress failure
He pointed out that all the anti-BJP votes in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh outnumbered the votes BJP got. “However, all is not yet lost for the secular bloc,” he added.
“We believe there’s enough time to formulate a winning strategy against the BJP” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, said Vijayan.
The chief minister spoke on the 18th day of his state-wide campaign in support of the Nava Kerala Sadas.
Vijayan also hinted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should try to contest the next Lok Sabha election from outside Kerala.
“If the Congress’ objective is to fight and defeat the BJP, then they should try and win against the BJP. It’s the LDF, not BJP, which is the main opponent here (in Kerala),” he said.
“Contesting against the LDF is not by any chance comparable to fighting the BJP. They should think about it.”
Muslim League
Referring to the Kerala governor sending four bills to the President for her consideration, he said: “I believe the president will study the bills and make a decision because they contain what’s beneficial to the state and its people. The President may need time to study these bills.
“But after some time, if there’s no decision coming forth, we may consider approaching the president directly.”
The chief minister denied he was planning cabinet changes, and also said that there was no question of the Muslim League quitting the Congress-led UDF and joining the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
“Without the League, there’s no UDF. In reality, the League has made it clear time and again that it would not leave UDF… We don’t have any need to bring League or any other party to the LDF fold.”