Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 19: Launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress over AAP’s Delhi Assembly poll defeat, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday alleged that the grand old party has now deteriorated to the extent that it even celebrates the victory of the BJP.
Accusing the Congress of retreating from its commitment to fighting the BJP alongside other parties, he alleged that Rahul himself led a campaign against the AAP in Delhi, a state where Congress had no chance of winning, thus helping the BJP come to power.
“Congress lost its deposit in 65 of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi, yet they celebrated when AAP lost the elections to the BJP. Congress has deteriorated into a party that now even celebrates the victory of the BJP,” Pinarayi Vijayan said while addressing activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) during a meeting organised as part of the 35th state conference of the outfit here.
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He alleged that the Congress’ wrong political approach helped the BJP win Haryana and Maharashtra.
Referring to the INDIA formation, Vijayan said the alliance which had shattered the BJP’s hopes of securing a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha elections has now been abandoned by the Congress.
“It was the Congress that raised corruption allegations against the AAP government in Delhi, which led to the central agencies stepping in and arresting the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. Congress even demanded the arrest of Kejriwal. Congress has always worked with the BJP in Delhi,” he claimed.
Cautioning the SFI members against the Sangh Parivar’s “attempts to saffronise the country”, Vijayan said that the new UGC draft notification is nothing but part of the Sangh Parivar’s agenda to take control of universities in the country.
“This draft bill is aimed at complete saffronisation, and they are trying to hand over the administration of universities to the Sangh Parivar through vice-chancellors. This will not benefit universities in any way,” the Kerala Chief Minister said.
He also urged the entire academic community to stand united against the move by the Centre.
Vijayan said that saffronisation is not merely about painting everything saffron but also about rewriting history.
“The entire country, despite its diversity, stood together in the struggle for independence. There was only one group that did not participate, and its leaders even met the then British Viceroy to assure him that they had no conflict of interest with the British, expressing their desire for British rule to continue in India,” Vijayan alleged.
Hitting out at Sangh Parivar, he further alleged that this group is now afraid of documented history, as it exposes their non-participation in the freedom struggle, which is why they seek to rewrite it.
He commended the SFI for its resistance against such moves by the Sangh Parivar and said that the SFI has grown stronger by fighting against societal injustices, despite countless attempts to suppress the organisation through torture and elimination of its leaders.
“SFI is a student organisation that has taken the correct stance on issues concerning the country. And it has made sacrifices in this journey. Many comrades have been martyred during these struggles,” Vijayan said.
Criticising the media, the Chief Minister alleged that “right-wing media in Kerala” have consistently ignored attacks or murders of SFI activists while exaggerating even minor incidents involving them.
“If an SFI leader is attacked or murdered, the media consider it insignificant and refuse to highlight it,” Vijayan alleged. (PTI)
