The Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Wednesday referred to two historical events separated by time and geography in an attempt to make the current spate of agitations against the government intelligible to its political base.
LDF convener A. Vijayaraghavan mentioned the Reichstag fire in Germany in 1933. The nascent Nazi government led by Adolf Hitler had blamed the fire in the German Parliament on Communists. The lie helped the Nazis eject Communists from the Parliament and consolidate their power over Germany.
Mr. Vijayaraghavan drew an analogy between the Reichstag fire and the actions of the Congress and the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of the “accidental and inconsequential” blaze at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
He said both parties had embraced extreme conspiracy theories to discredit the government when all else, including the no-confidence motion against the LDF, had failed.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala had called on Governor Arif Mohammad Khan merely to use the optics of the high-profile late-night visit to the Raj Bhavan to imply that something was amiss with the LDF government.
False theories
In tandem with BJP State president K. Surendran, Mr. Chennithala has promoted the false theory that an imaginary cabal of economic offenders and other dark forces controlled the LDF government, Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
Equating the Congress and the BJP, Mr, Vijayaraghavan said both the parties have no alternative policies to present to the people. Hence, they peddled conspiracy theories.
The LDF also felt the Congress and the BJP had adopted the tactics used by the proponents of the so-called “Liberation Struggle” that led to the dismissal of the EMS Government in 1957. The parties have tried to marshal revanchist and fundamentalist forces to their fold.
The LDF felt the “Congress-BJP cooperation” was a precursor of an electoral arrangement in the local body elections to be held later this year and the Assembly elections in 2021. The pact would serve only to undermine the United Democratic Front, the LDF felt.