Antony hits out at CPI(M), BJP

Says the rival parties are using violence as a tool to strengthen their vote base

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member A.K. Antony on Thursday accused both the CPI(M) and the BJP of attempting to strengthen their vote base by unleashing violence in the State.

Inaugurating the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s Thiruvananthapuram Parliament constituency convention here, Mr. Antony said “the parties have conspired with one another to further their vested interests by unleashing bloodshed. The Chengannur byelection showed that these parties, particularly the CPI (M), would go to any length, even abandon their founding ideals, to attain their goals,” he alleged.

He added that the recent change of guard in the State unit of the Congress and the UDF was timely and appeared to have revitalised the workers of the coalition. He claimed that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls would be the most crucial one the country has witnessed. “Our secular and democratic fabric was threatened by Sangh Parivar forces. The Prime Minister has been hell-bent on selling our country to corporate giants. Besides communal polarisation, large-scale corruption and mismanagement have been the hallmarks of the NDA government,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala accused the LDF government of corruption in sanctioning the establishment of three breweries and one distillery. Alleging that the government was hand in glove with the liquor mafia, Mr. Chennithala said the decision to scale up the manufacture of liquor had been taken without Cabinet sanction, even while large parts of the State continued to face acute drinking water shortage.

Rafale deal

Congress Working Committee member Oommen Chandy said the Centre’s decision to turn down the demand for a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into the Rafale fighter jet deal with France could be interpreted as an admission of guilt by the government. “The NDA government has been hesitant to constitute a JPC despite the fact that the ruling coalition would have majority in the panel. They fear that the documents relating to the deal would be made public,” Mr. Chandy said.

Mr. Antony released a ‘progress report’ of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor’s achievements in the constituency. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran; Indian Union Muslim League general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty; Kerala Congress (M) chairman K.M. Mani; UDF convener Benny Behanan; former KPCC president M.M. Hassan; RSP leader A.A. Azeez; K. Muraleedharan, V.S. Sivakumar and M. Vincent, MLAs; Kerala Congress (Jacob) leaders Anoop Jacob, MLA, and Johnny Nellore; IUML leader Sayyid Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal; and Forward Bloc general secretary G. Devarajan were present on the occasion.