Accusing Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary P. Jayarajan of distorting his words in a TV channel interview, Congress leader K. Sudhakaran has denied that he held talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership and stated that he will remain a Congressman till his death.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday to refute the allegation of Mr. Jayarajan that Mr. Sudhakaran was serving as an agent of the BJP in the Congress, the Congress leader said that Mr.Jayarajan’s allegation using an edited clipping in the Kairali channel of his interview telecast by another channel betrayed his [Mr. Jayarajan’s] panic in the aftermath of the murder of Youth Congress worker S.P. Shuhaib by CPI(M) workers here on February 12.
The murder case had shattered the self-portrayal of Mr. Jayarajan as saviour of the minority community, he said adding that the CPI(M) leader’s allegation that he had held discussions with the BJP leadership was farcical.
“I have not held any talks, whatsoever, with the BJP leadership and though it was true that emissaries approached me I have not given them an opportunity to visit me again,” Mr. Sudhakaran said adding that he wanted to live and die a Congressman. Referring to Mr. Jayarajan’s statement that Mr. Sudhakaran was describing the CPI(M) as a fascist party to please the BJP, the Congress leader reiterated that the CPI(M) was fascist. Noting that fascism was a system of rule by a dictator, he said that none other than Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Kanam Rajendran had said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was acting like a dictator.
Accusing the CPI(M) of pursuing the strategy of wooing the minority community by casting fear among them, Mr. Sudhakaran demanded a re-investigation into the 1971 communal riot at Thalassery. The Justice Vithayathil Commission’s report on the riot was enough to show the role of CPI(M) leaders in the riot, he said adding that even a handbill circulated by the CPI’s branch at Vadakkumbad at Thalassery on February 29, 1972, listed incidents showing the CPI(M)’s role. The CPI(M) here had carried out organised attacks against the minority community similar to the attacks by the BJP in Gujarat, he said referring to the incidents at Panniyur in Kannur and Nadapuram and Thuneri in Kozhikode.
The Congress leader said that while the Congress’ adversary at the national level was the BJP, its political rival in the State was the CPI(M). In response to a question, he said that Congress workers in the State could not accept any political understanding between the CPI(M) and the Congress. In the State, the CPI(M) and the BJP were two sides of the same coin as far as political violence was concerned, he said.
