Rahul Should Stop Being Facilitator For ED and Modi Govt.: CPM Leader Baby
Mr Baby's reaction came a day after Mr Gandhi released his comments made at the INDIA bloc meeting that took place on June 8. In his speech Mr Gandhi said, "We have our fights, but if you're asking me to go and hug the ex-chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and I will not because I have an ongoing political fight with him. So we have to be flexible and we have to realize that there is a full-scale assault on us trying to prove that the Opposition is weak "
New Delhi: Upset over Congress leader Mr Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of former Kerala Chief Minister Mr Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI-M General Secretary Mr M. A. Baby on Saturday slammed the Leader of Opposition (LoP) over his remarks at the INDIA bloc meeting on Kerala politics. Mr Baby said the LoP should stop being the "facilitator for ED and Modi government.”
Mr Baby's reaction came a day after Mr Gandhi released his comments made at the INDIA bloc meeting that took place on June 8. In his speech Mr Gandhi said, "We have our fights, but if you're asking me to go and hug the ex-chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and I will not because I have an ongoing political fight with him. So we have to be flexible and we have to realize that there is a full-scale assault on us trying to prove that the Opposition is weak ," Mr Gandhi had said during the meeting of INDIA Bloc on Monday.
However, the comment on Mr Vijayan has not gone down well with the CPI-M. In a post on X, Mr Baby responded to Gandhi's remarks saying, “Nobody is asking Rahul Gandhi to hug Pinarayi Vijayan. On the contrary all that we are asking is that he stop being a facilitator for the ED and the Modi government by demanding the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan and other Opposition leaders. That is not the job of the Leader of the Opposition."
It is learnt that during the INDIA bloc meeting, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas too had raised concerns over allegations made during the assembly poll campaign by the Congress in which there claims of a tacit understanding between the Left and the BJP. Mr Brittas said that while the CPI(M) could politically contest charges made by Congress leaders, it was different when such remarks came from Mr Gandhi, one of the principal faces of the alliance.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Baby also wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and objected to the allegations, describing them as inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation within the Opposition alliance.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Mr Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday criticised Mr Gandhi, saying his political approach does not strengthen the INDIA alliance and often ends up helping the BJP. "…We all saw the photograph of Rahul Gandhi hugging Narendra Modi. My objection is not to the act of hugging Modi itself. Rather, his remarks represent a particular political message. It reflects Rahul Gandhi's approach and how he views the INDIA alliance," Vijayan said.
"It is not only us, but also leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, along with other major non-Congress parties, who raised objections during the meeting and spoke against the Congress position," he said, adding that people could see where the DMK stands now.
