Congress accuses Vijayan of repeatedly ‘lying’
TRIVANDRUM: As the electioneering picks up, prominent leaders of Kerala’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the opposition Congress party are locked in a war of words.
On Saturday, the leader of the opposition in the provincial assembly, VD Satheesan, accused the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of spreading canards against them.
The bone of contention is over who was beter at opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, widely criticised for being anti-muslim for excluding them.
Last week, Vijayan, a top CPI (M) leader, addressed a series of rallies across the state, claiming that Congress lawmakers were silent in Parliament when it was passed.
He repeated the allegations even ater the Congress leaders clarified that they had vehemently opposed the Bill in Parliament and voted against it.
Senior Congress leader Dr Shashi Tharoor also released videos of his speeches in Parliament and outside, strongly criticising the bill as it discriminates against Muslims.
“The chief minister is still repeating the same blatant lies despite releasing the documents of Rahul Gandhi’s vote against CAA in Parliament,” Satheesan said.
“Dr Shashi Tharoor, NK Premachandran, and ET Muhammad Basheer also participated in the debate, strongly opposing the bill. We sent their videos to the CM’S office.”
Tharoor heavily criticised the communists, saying they are trying to score political points in the “most disgracefully dishonest” way.
“When the CAA bill was brought into parliament, I had opposed its introduction, and I spoke in the debate denouncing the bill, explaining why it’s unconstitutional and a violation of Article 14,” he said.
“The Constitution makes it explicitly clear that your caste, religion, language, place of birth, and whatever is irrelevant to your citizenship are on the same plane as every other citizen.”
The Congress leads the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI (M), the ruling Let Democratic Front (LDF). However, all the UDF and most of the LDF constituents are part of the 30-party Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) at the national level.
The Janata Dal (Secular) of K Krishnan Kuty, the irrigation minister, is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.