Kerala CM, UDF spar as BJP leader defects to Congress
Warier, a former BJP state committee member and its face on television debates, joined the Congress on Saturday, saying that he came out of a ‘factory that sold hate’ to join a ’shop that sold love’
Barbs flew between chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and opposition leaders of the Congress-led UDF on Sunday over the defection of Sandeep Warier from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Congress and his past record of making controversial remarks along communal lines.
Warier, a former BJP state committee member and its face on television debates, joined the Congress on Saturday, saying that he came out of a “factory that sold hate” to join a “shop that sold love”. On Sunday, he paid a visit to Panakkad, the village of IUML supremo Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal. IUML is an old ally of the Congress in Kerala.
At an election convention in Palakkad, which is heading for the bypoll on November 20, Vijayan said the “right-wing media were glorifying the induction of Sandeep Varier into the Congress”.
“Why is he being glorified so much? There is something very wrong within the UDF. It shows how much low the UDF has stooped to. Then I saw the news that he (Varier) is going to Panakkad to meet Thangal. I was suddenly remembered of an experience that I had during an election meeting in Ottappalam many years ago. It was an election right after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Sangh Parivar was behind the demolition of the structure, but the then Congress government (of Narasimha Rao) also extended a lot of help to it. Naturally, a lot of secular-minded people and especially the Muslim community protested against it,” said Vijayan.
The CM lashed out at the IUML stating that it continued to remain in power with the Congress in Kerala in the backdrop of the demolition in its pursuit of power despite the Muslim community’s anger against the ruling party at the Centre.
“The then chief of the IUML was accepted and respected by all. But the current IUML chief Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal is acting as a follower of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Today, when he (Varier) is visiting Panakkad, everyone knows (what he said in the past). The IUML workers and secular-minded people in Palakkad know fully well the circumstances surrounding him (Varier). It is very clear that his visit to Panakkad today and their small talk is an attempt to assuage the anger and protests among the workers (against his induction into Congress),” the CM said.
In response, IUML national general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said that the party’s chief Thangal has always tried to smooth out differences between people of different faiths to prevent communal incidents.
“When an incident like the Waqf row in Munambam came up, Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal called up all Muslim groups and the Feroke college management for talks to resolve the issue. Of course, the BJP is using the controversy to make political gains. But what is the Left doing? By delaying any action on it, the ruling party is also walking on the same path as the BJP. The Left will never understand the importance of the Panakkad Thangals,” he said.
Congress leader VD Satheesan too hit out at the chief minister saying he was trying to appease the Sangh Parivar and other right-wing forces by criticising the chief of the IUML.
“Why are CPM leaders so frustrated that a leader left the shop that sells hate and division and joined a party that sells love? Does he believe that no BJP leader should leave the party and join other parties?” he asked.
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