Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dropped a bombshell today when he accused Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi of taking support from Jamaat-e-Islami in the upcoming Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election.
“The Congress’s mask has completely fallen off in Wayanad bypolls. Priyanka is contesting as a candidate backed by Jamaat-e-Islami,” Vijayan said in a Facebook post, adding that Jamaat-e-Islami does not recognise democratic institutions but now feels inclined to support the Congress-led UDF.
Though the CPI(M) supported the Congress-led INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha elections, CM Vijayan had criticised Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad. The Congress leader had earlier questioned why the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had not jailed the veteran CPI(M) leader despite several allegations, while two other CMs in opposition-ruled states were behind bars.
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Vijayan had dismissed Rahul Gandhi's remarks, saying: “Rahul Gandhi… you have an old name. There should not be a situation where you still haven’t moved past that,” he said, alluding to former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s decade-old remark, calling Rahul Gandhi an “Amul Baby”. Priyanka Gandhi, then, had said that Vijayan was “compromised”, criticising only the Congress and Rahul Gandhi while sparing the BJP.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, CM Vijayan and the CPI(M) faced allegations of engaging in minority appeasement in Kerala. The party was accused of attempting to bring the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) to their side and creating divisions within a prominent Muslim organisation. However, following the CPI(M)’s poor performance—securing only a single Lok Sabha seat from Kerala—Vijayan seems to have hit a different note. Last month, he said the IUML was aligning with Jamaat-e-Islami, and recently, he equated Jamaat-e-Islami to an “Islamic version of the RSS”.
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In his latest post, Vijayan questioned, “Why can't those who claim to stand for secularism also stand firmly against all forms of communalism? The Muslim League, along with others, is aligning with the Congress-Jamaat-e-Islami group, even making certain ‘sacrifices’ for it. Can the Congress openly declare that they reject the support of Jamaat-e-Islami?”
Interestingly, in her election campaign so far, Priyanka Gandhi has focused her attacks solely on the BJP, avoiding any criticism of the Left Democratic Front or its leaders.