JOIN USNational-level Opposition, unity, state-level strategy needed to defeat BJP: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
One of the senior most Chief Ministers and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Pinarayi Vijayan will be completing seven years at the helm of Kerala later this month. He spoke to DH’s Shemin Joy on how Opposition ruled states are fighting the Centre, his plans for Kerala’s development and political situation.
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The campaigning for the Karnataka election has entered a decisive phase. What kind of reports are you getting?
The sentiment against the BJP is growing in Karnataka. The general atmosphere is that people are fed up with the BJP government.
Chief Ministers from the Opposition are coming together on a variety of issues. You are one of the senior Chief Ministers. What are your concerns?
We are confronting a number of problems, not just one or two. One of the main issues is the utter disregard for federal principles and the troubles faced by states due to this. What we need is a strong Centre and a prosperous and happy state. But what is happening is that the Centre is looking at ways to squeeze the states. The trend is to centralise power. The states governed by the Opposition are experiencing discrimination and harassment. We can see a trend where the Centre is interfering in issues which are the exclusive domain of the states. The Centre is snatching away rights and powers of states. This is something that should not happen at a place where the federal structure is the basic. There have been protests against this attitude but the Centre is going ahead ignoring all these. Then there is the interference of the Centre in another manner. Central agencies are used for this. But people understand this and they know these actions are being initiated because we are in the Opposition. Then there are several instances that the Bills passed by the Assemblies do not get the assent. Governors are acting like Centre’s agents. This has created tension.
Governors not giving assent to Bills have been an issue raised by Tamil Nadu and Telangana among others. The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a resolution while Telangana has approached the Supreme Court. What is Kerala’s position?
In Kerala, we believe that the Governor should not resort to such tactics. The Governor will have to change his attitude. We hope the Governor will do that. That was why we did not take any such route. However, we do not see any change. So, we will now have to think what to do in such a scenario.
BJP is giving special attention to Kerala. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had compared Kerala with Somalia. But now he has even held a roadshow in recent weeks. Do you think BJP stands a better chance now?
The BJP has used certain tactical ways to grow as the ruling party. They are trying to use those in Kerala now. But one has to know our country is a diverse land. Kerala has its own uniqueness. That is why Malayalis do not welcome the BJP ideology. BJP has understood this too. They have tried a lot but they could not make any inroad in Kerala. It is in that scenario that they are now trying to concentrate their efforts on a minority community. But one thing we all should keep in mind is that BJP is not just any other party but one which has accepted the leadership of the RSS. They are implementing the policies cleared by the RSS. The RSS has three declared enemies. Christians and Muslims are two of them. RSS has taken measures as per this policy. In several states, minorities had to face attacks from them. These attacks took place in BJP-ruled states. All know how minorities were treated there. That is part of implementing RSS ideology. Kerala stands exactly opposite. No minority community feels insecure in Kerala.
How will the CPI(M)-led Left be going to counter it? What special measures are you going to take to counter the onslaught of the BJP in Kerala?
There is no need for any special plan because there is a policy which we have been following for a long time. It is because of that policy or stand that Kerala stands apart. That is the strength of the Left in Kerala. That is the biggest guarantee of secularism in Kerala. There are moves to weaken the Left. They have done it earlier too but it is not easy. Secularism will be protected at any cost, people know that. That is the guarantee why people will not fall into any communal agenda.
You indicated the BJP's efforts to attract Christians. CPI(M) mouthpiece ‘People’s Democracy’ wondered whether some Bishops are scared of the central agencies, as there are some cases. What is your view?
We have to understand that the BJP is using several methods. Central agencies are misused. That is a fact. They might use those tactics against people of different communities. But I don’t think people of these communities get swayed by such tactics.
A controversial film ‘Kerala Story’ is hitting theatres later this week. There are demands for action, including ban, against it citing claims like thousands of Muslim women being taken to Islamic countries. It also talks about the contentious ‘love jihad’ theory. What action is being contemplated?
This film has nothing to do with facts, it is utter trash. The issue of love jihad has been examined by the Supreme Court itself. The union government has also rubbished the theory. If I understood it correctly, a union minister himself has said in Parliament that there is no love jihad. The film is aimed at creating divisions among people. Its aim is to communalise the society. When we talk now, the Supreme Court has given a clear direction to states to register cases if there is hate speech even when there is no complaint. Keeping this order in mind, we will explore legally. If we can take some action, we will do that.
Do you think the Congress in Kerala is capable of fighting the BJP?
The Congress in Kerala is with the BJP. Those who observe Kerala will know that the Congress is in cohorts with the BJP to fight the LDF. The unfortunate thing when compared to the national situation is that the Congress and the UDF are working with the BJP in Kerala. That is actually against the national line of Congress. Secular minded people in Kerala do not think that Congress can take on the BJP.
Lok Sabha elections are a year away. There is a discussion around the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat where Rahul Gandhi contested last time against the Left. This time, can we see Wayanad as a symbol of Opposition unity at national level?
What is Opposition unity at national level? The concept of Opposition unity at national level is not about having a common candidate. It is about having unity to defeat the BJP. The CPI(M) believes that the strategy to defeat the BJP should evolve at the state level. For this, we should cooperate with like-minded parties. As far as Kerala is concerned, there is no chance of the BJP winning even a single seat. So, the question of having a common candidate does not arise in Kerala.
The LDF government is completing two years in its second term. The government is facing allegations. Do you think there was any lapse in monitoring by the party and the government?
There is no lapse. These allegations are deliberately levelled to create a smokescreen. The attempt is to see whether Malayalis can be misled. For this, both the Congress and the BJP are on the same page. The Congress and the UDF are looking at whether it could utilise the special help of the BJP-led union government in targeting us. This was very evident two years ago when we were facing the Assembly elections. The central agencies were used to create the smokescreen. People make a decision to vote for a particular party not based on what media projects. They obviously read what you write but they use your experiences to arrive at a decision. That was in favour of the LDF and that is why people decided to give another term for the LDF. The Congress and the BJP were expecting that we will not be able to retain power because of the campaign they had unleashed. They then examined how we managed to return to power. They understood people are standing with this government on its developmental initiatives. Then they decided that no development initiative should take place in Kerala, that they will oppose anything. They planned to create an atmosphere of doubt. In the last two years after the LDF retained power, they are pursuing this strategy. People understand what they are doing.
For the remaining three years, what is on your agenda?
We will pursue the same agenda. We need to take the state forward. The development agenda is not just for three years, we have to plan for the next 10 years, 25 years. How can we make Kerala at par with developed nations? For this, we need development that touches all corners. There should be development in all spheres. Along with this, we also need people’s welfare programmes. On one side, we need development while on the other, we need welfare programmes. This is what we are implementing and we will try to do the same in the future too.