Congress engaged in seat-selling in Kerala, says M Swaraj

Kochi: CPM state secretariat member M Swaraj alleged that Congress is engaged in seat-selling in Kerala like "what was done in Haryana and Bihar". He was speaking at a news conference in Kochi on Wednesday.Swaraj said that those who secured seats through deals began campaigning as Congress candidates two years ago and even started residing in the constituency by renting houses. They commenced activities by spending large sums of money, which Swaraj claimed was evidence of securing seats through financial transactions. "Priyanka Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Kodikunnil Suresh were implicated in the Haryana seat scandal. If the allegations were false, why did Priyanka and Venugopal replace their PAs?," he asked. "This is an open admission of guilt. A person who won as a Congress candidate four times in Thrissur did not receive the mayor position because of not making payment, while someone who ran around with money bags got the position. Congress has become a party that sells seats from the panchayat to Parliament level," Swaraj said. Congress operates as a national party of thieves, he alleged. "The fraud in Wayanad is part of this culture. CPM and LDF's stance is not to seek support from any communal forces and to oppose all communalism. The competition in Nemom is against BJP. A section of Congress will vote for LDF there. In the last Lok Sabha election and Palakkad by-election, SDPI supported UDF. V D Satheesan, who maintains an understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami and RSS, has no right to speak about secularism," he said.