The CPI(M) should have no electoral truck with the Congress, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Thursday.
Mr. Vijayan, a member of the party’s Polit Bureau, made it clear that while the need of the hour demanded a coming together of secular forces to build a robust defence against the communal agenda of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, it would be improper and disastrous to have an electoral alliance with the Congress, which heralded the neoliberal policies that were being aggressively followed by the BJP.
“Both the BJP and the Congress are on the same page on the neoliberal policies which wrecked the country’s economy. The Congress launched the policy to appease corporates which led to price rise and made life unbearable for the commoner. It will therefore be improper to be in the company of the Congress,” he said while addressing a massive rally at Marine Drive to mark the end of the district conference of the party.
Explaining what has come to be described as ‘the Kerala line’ regarding the party’s stand towards the Congress in the general elections next year, Mr. Vijayan said an electoral alliance should be based on a clear-cut policy. “The Left has a permanent space and therefore, the only way out is to strengthen the Left unity. Political parties with a clear ideology and an uncompromising stand against neoliberal policies should be made part of it. This was a stand taken at the last party congress,” he said.
