BJP agenda of communalism won’t work in Kerala, says CM Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 24 (KMS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the state has always opposed communalism of any kind as it poses a threat to the society and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not be able to propagate its agenda in the state.

Taking on the BJP-led government in New Delhi, Vijayan claimed that it was silencing the voice of the opposition in Parliament.

The veteran Left leader was speaking at the A K G memorial programme at Perallassery near here.

In an apparent reference to Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany, who made a statement recently that his community can help the BJP if that party addresses the concerns of farmers, Vijayan said such “opportunists” do not represent the people of Kerala.

“The sangh parivar and its leaders should understand that the opinion of certain opportunists do not represent the mindset of people of Kerala. Kerala has always adopted a strong stand against communalism. Be it minority or the majority. Both pose a danger to society. So, Kerala is not a place where BJP can easily propagate their agenda,” Vijayan said.

He said in the 2016 Assembly election, BJP secured one seat for the first time in the history of the state with the help of Congress.

“BJP has played all sorts of games since its Jan Sangh period to win a seat in the Assembly. Finally, they got one in 2016. We all now know how they got it. Congress lost all its votes in that particular constituency and helped BJP defeat the Left candidate,” Vijayan said.

The CM further said that his party has publicly announced that BJP’s account will be closed in the state in 2021 election and it happened.

Recalling that there was a time when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to listen to communist leader A K Gopalan, who was the first Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Vijayan said, “However, these days, the BJP is trying to suppress the voice of opposition in the Parliament.”