Former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and Congress leader Sachin Pilot said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had expanded its foothold in Kerala under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
Speaking to The Hindu while on a campaign tour in the State, Mr. Pilot said the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] was in covert alliance with the BJP to diminish the UDF’s chances in Kerala. Both parties were united in their opposition to the policies and ideals of the Congress. They had attempted to bring the nexus into play in the impending Assembly polls. But, voters would defeat the CPI(M)-BJP cabal.
A Congress victory in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry was inevitable. The DMK-Congress alliance was poised to march to victory in Tamil Nadu. The tide of the battle was turning against the BJP nationally, he said.
Mr. Pilot denied that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala were duelling power centres in the Congress. “The Congress approaches elections as a team. It chooses the leader of the Parliamentary party later,” he said.
When pressed that LDF had a clear Chief Minister candidate in Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr. Sachin said “Mr. Vijayan has the advantage of being the incumbent Chief Minister. Congress has also fielded sitting Chief Ministers as the face of its campaign in several States.”
The LDF had resorted to political hyperbole by accusing the Congress of kowtowing to Islamist and Hindutva forces. Congress’s secular credentials were unimpeachable. The CPI(M) has unabashedly supported the Sangh Parivar in a bid to undermine Congress. It has no right to sermonise on secularism.
Scams, scandals, cover-ups and corruption had characterised five years of LDF rule in Kerala. The administration had attempted to sell the sea to foreign trawlers, jeopardising the livelihood of lakhs of traditional fishers.
By mindlessly borrowing from the open financial market, the LDF had mortgaged Kerala’s future. Congress promised to reinvent Kerala. It would revitalise its flailing tourism, agriculture, education, health, cashew, coir and other sectors.
Rahul Gandhi’s campaigning and the minimum income guarantee scheme promised in the UDF manifesto would tip the electoral balance in Kerala in favour of the UDF, he said.