‘CPM handed us a historic win’

Thiruvananthapuram: Following their landslide victory in the state, the Congress leadership here has demanded the resignation of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, owning up the moral responsibility of his party’s defeat.
In a joint news conference by KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy held here on Thursday afternoon, the leaders targeted Pinarayi Vijayan in a damning manner.
“The chief minister and CPM party general secretary had major roles in handing us a historic win and diminishing their party’s significance in national politics. Hence the CM must show political decency to resign and face people’s verdict again,” said Mullappally Ramchandran. He said that with this defeat Pinarayi Vijayan has lost the moral right to rule the state.
He also said that the election results were the reflection of people’s displeasure on both the Union and state governments. The candidature of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad too had its positive impact on all other constituencies in the state.
Calling him the Gorbachev (Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of Soviet Union) of CPM in India, Ramesh Chennithala said that Pinarayi Vijayan’s petty political stance also contributed to the Modi-led NDA’s victory. Attributing NDA’s victory at the Centre to the lack of unity among opposition parties, Chennithala said that Pinarayi Vijayan opposed the idea of a unified opposition put forward by Sitaram Yechury.
“Yechury knew that the need of the hour was a unified opposition to raise a wall of defence against the rising communal forces,” he said.
Chennithala also did not forget to take a jab at the campaign by CPM, which claimed that Congress candidates would cross floors and join BJP if they were elected.
“We made sure that the BJP do not garner support in Kerala. But, CPM helped BJP grow further by supporting them in West Bengal,” he said.
Oommen Chandy said that this victory was the result of clear and firm stances taken by the UDF in various issues ranging from Sabarimala women entry to violence in college campuses and the ‘politics of murder’.