CPI(M)’s criticism of Rahul Gandhi to please BJP: Sachin Pilot

All India Congress Committee general secretary Sachin Pilot has said that the campaign by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders against Rahul Gandhi is to please the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The allegations against Mr. Gandhi are part of a deal between the BJP and the CPI(M), he alleged.

Addressing the media here, Mr. Pilot said the Chief Minister, who had not said anything against the BJP, was constantly making allegations against Mr. Gandhi. “The CPI(M) has nothing to say against the Central government’s petroleum and foreign policies. The Chief Minister is reluctant to criticise the Centre on the issue of cooking gas shortage,” he said.

Those who voted for the LDF during the last two terms are now a disappointed lot, he said. Ninety-five per cent of the State’s revenue is used to pay interest on loans. The LDF government has not been able to bring even a single big industry to the State in the last 10 years, he said.

Mr. Pilot also asked whether the BJP government had ever frozen the bank accounts of the CPI(M) or taken any action against its leaders to date. “Central agencies, including the Directorate of Enforcement and the Income Tax department, have harassed Congress leaders, including Mr. Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. But, they have not questioned CPI(M) leaders who face serious allegations. This is the biggest example of the deal between the BJP and the CPI(M),” he said, adding that the BJP was protecting corrupt CPI(M) leaders.

He said the Chief Electoral Officer’s explanation for the BJP seal in the Election Commission of India’s letter was not satisfactory, and that it generated more doubts.