‘Kannur pact’ is now an agreement to beat Cong.: Chennithala

The earlier understanding between the CPI(M) and the RSS to end political killings in Kannur has been extended as a political understanding to defeat the Congress, according to Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Chennithala said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did the right thing to end the killings after he assumed the post. However, one should also be mindful of the fact that the CPI(M) was a party to the killings.

The defeat of the Congress in the State will be beneficial to the CPI(M) and the BJP. Hence, both parties were happy with the arrangement, he said.

The LDF decided to field a candidate against Rahul Gandhi to help the BJP. The last Assembly election witnessed the Congressled UDF bagging 40% of the votes and the CPI(M)led by LDF 44%. However, the vote share of the BJP came down to 10% from the earlier 14%, which resulted in the CPI(M) returning to power. The BJP votes went in favour of the CPI(M) in 69 seats, he said.

‘Going easy’

He alleged that Central agencies were softpedalling the investigation in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank loan scam and the cases against the Chief Minister’s daughter.

Though Mr. Modi had stated that he knew who was helping the gold smugglers, the Centre had not acted in the case. The Chief Minister, who was always critical of Mr. Gandhi, had been maintaining a silence on Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah, he alleged.

Mr. Chennithala felt a host of factors, including the presence of Rahul Gandhi as a candidate in Wayanad, had contributed to the performance of the party in Lok Sabha elections last time when it won 19 of the 20 seats.

The misdeeds of the Union and the State governments too contributed to the victory. This time too, the atmosphere was conducive for the UDF, he said.

The former Home Minister felt that the people of Kerala were dissatisfied with the LDF government, which had become ‘nonfunctional’.

Salaries, pensions

The government could not even disburse salaries and pensions on time. There is a groundswell of resentment against the government. Even CPI(M) workers are unhappy as corruption has become rampant. Party workers are opposed to the style of functioning of the Chief Minister, he said.

The people are convinced that only the Congress can save the country from Narendra Modi’s regime as the CPI(M) cannot do much at the national level. The members of the minority communities too want the Congress to come back to power.

Mr. Vijayan’s attempt to cover up the follies of his government by projecting his party as the protector of minorities would not succeed. It took four years for the LDF government, which had opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, to withdraw the cases booked in connection with the antiCAA protests.

A large number of youngsters had suffered due to the delay in withdrawing the cases. The government decided to withdraw the cases with an eye on the elections. Once voted to power, the Congress will repeal the legislation so that the people will get back the freedom to choose their citizenship, he said.

Full interview: https:// newsth.live/Chennithala

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala