Congress has 'surrendered' to IUML, alleges CPI(M)

Launching a house-to-house campaign in the poll bound Kerala, state's ruling CPI(M) on Sunday attacked the Congress, alleging that the opposition party has "surrendered" to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key partner in the UDF.

"The opposition (in Kerala) represents religious hatred. The Congress has surrendered to the Muslim League. That is being brought to the public," State Secretary of CPI(M) A Vijayaraghavan told reporters in Thrissur after participating in the campaign to "discuss" with people the programmes launched by the LDF government in the state during its last five year rule.

The CPI(M) has said during its ongoing house-to-house campaign ending January 31, the party workers would expose the political opportunism of the Congress, which has tried to make friends with outfits like Jamaat-e-Islami to target the LDF government in the state.

"The opposition has never worked for protecting the interest of the common people. The Congress, using its partner like Muslim League, tried to bring the outfits like Jama-at-e-Islami into its fold. The party will expose such political opportunism of the Congress," Vijayaraghavan had said in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

Hitting back at the CPI(M), the Congress said the left party leader, by making such statements, was trying to 'emulate' the politics of BJP, which is based on "communal campaign" in the state.

"The BJP is carrying out anti-Muslim campaign. Now, the LDF is also engaged in a similar campaign. Both the CPI(M) and the BJP are having only one agenda in this election. That is a communal agenda," KPCC vice president V D Satheesan MLA said when his reaction was sought by the media.

Dismissing the allegations, UDF convenor M M Hassan said the Congress is leading the UDF and has not 'surrendered' to any of its partners. The CPI(M) changed its political narrative in the state during the local body polls held last month attacking the Congress over growing clout of the Muslim League in the UDF.

Raising this issue, the party had won traditional votes of the Congress belonging to Christian and upper-caste Hindu communities, capturing the strongholds of the UDF in central and southern Kerala districts in the civic polls.

The CPI(M) brought such a shift in its political line after the Congress-led UDF, influenced by the Muslim League, forged electoral understanding with the Welfare Party, a political outfit of Jamaat-e-Islami, to defeat the LDF in the Malabar area.

After the UDF suffered a huge blow in the civic polls, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had alleged that Muslim League was making decisions for the front.