KOZHIKODE: Fault lines in the INDIA bloc split wide open in Kerala on Monday after CM Pinarayi Vijayan declared it was "inappropriate" of Congress to field sitting MP Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad against CPI's Annie Raja, defeating the alliance's professed aim of taking on BJP-led NDA.
"Can Rahul Gandhi say he has come here to contest against NDA? He has come here to fight LDF, which is the major political power. What is the justification for contesting against LDF, which is part of the INDIA bloc, and that too against Annie Raja, who is a nationally recognised Left leader?" Vijayan said.
Accusing Rahul of "double standard", the CM questioned why the former Congress president remained silent on CAA throughout his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
Vijayan, who attended a campaign rally for Annie Raja at Thiruvambady in Kozhikode, said it was also intriguing that Congress wasn't taking a stand against "central agencies hounding non-Congress opposition leaders".
"Congress played a key role in levelling corruption allegations linked to the AAP govt's liquor licence policy in Delhi that led ED to go after Arvind Kejriwal. When deputy CM Manish Sisodia was arrested, Congress complained why Kejriwal was not being taken into custody," Vijayan said.
On Rahul's statement that Congress members were crossing over to BJP after being threatened with jail, Vijayan said politicians were required to face adversities rather than succumb to them. "Instead of giving up in such situations, they should have the courage to fight."
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