NEW DELHI, Apr 19
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday reminded Rahul Gandhi, who had questioned why the BJP government at the Centre was not acting against the CPI(M) leader like it had done with other Opposition CMs, that it was Rahul’s “grandmother who had jailed us for one-and-a-half years”.
Addressing an election event in Kozhikode, Vijayan said, “Rahul is worried why the Kerala Chief Minister is not being questioned and why he is not being taken into custody… It was your grandmother (Indira Gandhi) who had jailed us for one-and-a-half years (during the Emergency) when she suppressed the entire country.”
On Thursday, at a rally in Kannur, Rahul had said, “Two chief ministers are in jail. How come this is not happening to the Chief Minister of Kerala? I am attacking the BJP 24×7, and the Chief Minister of Kerala is attacking me 24×7. This is a bit puzzling.” The Congress has alleged that Vijayan was not criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of investigations by central agencies into an illegal payment scam at his daughter Veena’s IT firm, and a fund scam at a co-operative bank in Thrissur.
Vijayan on Friday said he has never been afraid of any investigation or agency.
“Rahul is being criticised over his stand on CAA. Why were you keeping away from the anti-CAA protest? Congress leaders were not among those arrested in Delhi in connection with the protest,” Vijayan said. He also said Rahul “had been called a name in the past” and that he “should not create a situation that shows that you have not changed”.
Senior Congress leader and party Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala said Vijayan should retract the comments against Rahul and tender an apology. Vijayan “is ready to stoop to any level to curry favour with Narendra Modi,” Chennithala alleged.
Since the start of the election campaign in Kerala, where the Congress and CPI(M) are rivals although they are part of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc at the national level, Vijayan has repeatedly criticised Rahul for being silent on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act – something that the CPI(M) has made a major poll issue.
