Rahul Gandhi trains guns on Left ahead of Kerala polls; claims 'BJP going slow on cases'

Setting the tone for the Kerala Assembly polls, ex-Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government in the state. While the Congress-led UDF is the principal challenger to the ruling LDF in Kerala, the Sonia Gandhi-led party has stitched an alliance with the Left in West Bengal to take on TMC. Earlier, sources had informed Republic TV that the Wayanad MP and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will skip the joint Left-Congress rally in Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground to avoid sending the wrong signal in Kerala. 

Accusing BJP of going slow on cases against the Left in Kerala, he hinted at a secret pact between the Centre and the state government. During his public meeting in Thiruvananthapuram marking the culmination of Congress' Aishwarya Yatra, he maintained that his party would continue to peacefully protest against the Left front irrespective of the violence perpetrated by the latter. Alleging that the ruling alliance in the state was routinely killing Congress workers, Gandhi asserted that no one was scared of this. Moreover, he promised that the UDF will come up with a "people's manifesto" ahead of the state polls. 

Ex-Congress president Rahul Gandhi remarked, "Why is it that the cases that are there against the Left Front government, against a person who works in the Chief Minister's Office, progressing so slowly? Why is it taking so long? Why is the CBI, ED and other institutions not attacking the Left government? I am a bit confused about this. Because I know that if you attack BJP, BJP attacks you 24 hours a day. There is only one reason that the BJP is going slow on these cases. You can figure out what the reason is." 

"When the Congress workers and the people of Kerala try to fight non-violently, you pick them and you kill them. Don't worry that are many Congress workers who will continue to fight. You can continue to kill as many as you want. We are not scared of your violence. We are not scared of your methods. But we will never use them. So, that is the broad situation in the state," he added. 

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Political scenario in Kerala

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly election, the CPI(M)-led Left Front swept the 140-member Assembly by bagging 91 seats. In contrast, the candidates of the UDF could win from only 47 constituencies. On the other hand, BJP failed to make an impact with only O Rajagopal winning from the Nemom constituency. Subsequently, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on May 25, 2016.

The UDF's campaign in the 2019 General Election received a shot in the arm after Rahul Gandhi decided to contest from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency as well. Ultimately, the result was in favour of UDF which won 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. However, the Left Front again showcased their strength in the local body polls held in December 2020 by winning 7,262 seats as against that of UDF and NDA that could win 5,893 and 1,182 seats respectively. 

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