Congress is BJP's fixed deposit, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The CPM in Kerala is citing a recent statement by state BJP President K Surendran to allege that many Congress MLAs will jump over to the BJP.

Surendran had said that 35 MLAs are enough for the NDA to form the government in the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is highlighting it in his campaign by alleging that Congress MLAs, as in many states, would become BJP leaders in due course.

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He alleged that Surendran's statement indicates the confidence the BJP has in the Congress and that the Congress has become a fixed deposit of the BJP.

Vijayan also said that the Congress-led UDF was unleashing a campaign that if Congress gets defeated in the elections, the BJP will gain strength.

It is a misleading campaign because as in many states BJP gained strength after the Congress won, he said.

Throughout his campaign, Vijayan has been stressing that only CPM can protect secularism and has been accusing both the BJP and the Congress of being communal.

Surendran's statement was widely flayed as an open challenge to democracy.