Thiruvananthapuram: The UDF leadership, it is learnt, has decided to train their guns on veteran V S Achuthanandan, while going soft on Pinarayi Vijayan. The change in campaign strategy was evident in the offensive launched against VS by chief minister Oommen Chandy and home minister Ramesh Chennithala in the last two days.
The UDF leaders foresee VS Achuthanandan escalating the corruption issue with a view to develop it as the key plank of this poll. The emphasis on corruption will naturally be detrimental to UDF's interests and the only way to prevent this is by checkmating VS.
Sources close to UDF leadership said Chandy will soon approach the election commission and may even file a criminal defamation case against VS. While the EC will be requested to ban VS from levelling baseless allegations, the criminal case will be filed to add credence to Chandy's stance.
On Wednesday , Chandy went one step further by seeking to know Achuthanandan's views on the CPM fielding candidates accused of murder and financial fraud. “One accused in a murder case is contesting after getting temporary reprieve from the court. Another candidate declared in his affidavit that he was an accused in 54 cases. Why is VS silent on them, while repeating baseless allegations against us?“ Chandy told reporters in Kochi on Wednesday .
He was hinting at the candidature of T V Rajesh in Kalyasery and M V Nikesh Kumar in Azheekode. While Rajesh is an accused in Ariyil Shukoor murder case, Nikesh has 54 cheque cases against him.
Sources in the CPM said the timing of the leak of a letter written by VS to DGP T P Senkumar seeking fair probe against Nikesh Kumar needed to be read along with CM's statement. A news portal released the letter that refers to a financial fraud case filed against Nikesh Kumar by his business associate. VS wrote the letter on March 8, ahead of the finalisation of LDF candidates. Sources said VS had approved the candidature of Nikesh after the latter apprised him that the complaint was the continuation of a business dispute and he was trying to settle it out of court.
Along with attacking VS, the UDF will continue its campaign against politics of violence targeting both the CPM and the BJP . Referring to CPM leader P Jayarajan's speech here last Sunday and Kummanam Rajasekharan's tit-for-tat reply , home minister Ramesh Chennithala told reporters here that the speech and the response to it clearly showed the political stance of both the CPM and BJP . “The only solution to the violent and communal brands of politics upheld by them is the continuance of the UDF rule," said Chennithala.
The UDF is also learnt to have decided to soften its stance towards Pinarayi Vijayan, who has taken a strategic retreat following the goof-ups during news conferences held recently . Vijayan's campaign, the UDF leadership feels, won't stir masses like the one led by VS. Speaking to reporters here, Ramesh Chennithala said that if elected, the LDF government wouldn't get time to solve state's developmental issues as they would be busy solving internal issues.
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