Thrissur (Keralam) [India], March 31 (ANI): Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) leader and politburo member Brinda Karat on Tuesday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has learned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “divert attention from major issues and tell lies”.
She said that Gandhi was making “false allegations” against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala ahead of the assembly polls scheduled to be held on April 9.
“It seems here in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi has only learnt from Modi how to divert attention from major issues and tell lies. One after the other, he is only making false accusations against the LDF government, which nobody here can take seriously. Yesterday, he talked about the gold being taken from Ayyappa. He thought he made a funny comment about it,” Karat told ANI.
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, the senior CPI(M) leader said that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha “scored a big self-goal” by raising the issue of Sabarimala gold robbery since those arrested in the case were taken by Congress MPs to meet Sonia Gandhi.
“However, people in Kerala are asking him, do you know about the SIT setup? Did you know it was challenged by your party in the High Court? The petition was rejected by the High Court, saying that SIT is doing a good job. Does he know that all those arrested in the Sabarimala gold robbery case were taken by your MPs to meet your mother Sonia? He should know his facts. Rahul scored a big self-goal by making this charge yesterday,” Karat said.
Her remarks come after Rahul Gandhi alleged a “secret partnership” between the ruling CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, claiming both have abandoned their ideologies to become “corporate parties”.
Addressing a gathering at the Kannur Police Maidan, Gandhi reiterated his charge that the Congress-led UDF is fighting the combined forces of LDF and BJP in the State. The Congress leader further alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi exerts “control” over Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan through the threat of central investigative agencies.
“Narendra Modi controls the Chief Minister of Kerala. The CM knows that the Prime Minister has the key to putting him in jail right now. You will hear Congress attacking Narendra Modi, but you will never hear the Kerala CM attacking Modi, nor will you see Modi attacking the Kerala CM,” he said.
The polling for Keralam assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
Keralam has traditionally followed an alternating pattern of governance, switching between the LDF and the UDF every five years since 1982. This trend was broken in 2021 when the LDF, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was re-elected for a second consecutive term. (ANI)