KOCHI: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has refuted the charges regarding the party employing threats and intimidation to prevent Congress activists from contesting the local body elections in Kannur district.
He told reporters here on Friday that the allegation raised by Congress leader K. Sudhakaran was an indictment of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
“Oommen Chandy and Chennithala are incapable of giving protection to even 10 candidates despite having 50,000 police personal under their command,” he said.
“Congress leaders are indulging in such cheap tactics to conceal the shame in not finding enough candidates to contest the poll,” Mr Kodiyeri said.
“The political trend in the state is in favour of the LDF which could be identified from the fact that 19 candidates won without opposition after the completion of the scrutiny of the nomination papers,” he said.
Launching a scathing attack on the proposed BJP-SNDP alliance, Mr. Kodiyeri said the RSS had become an Indian version of the dreaded IS. On the question of reservation, he said the CPM is for the continuation of the existing reservation system.
He also supported reservation for the economically weak among the forward communities. Mr Kodiyeri justified the decision to field Karayi Rajan and Karayi Chandrasekhran, facing murder charges in the Fazal murder case, as party candidates. He said the two are victims of ‘state terror.’
He also blamed the corruption of the Chandy government for the lack of development in the state.
