Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been unable to shake off the accusations of political murders levelled against it, and the Left will be relegated to the position of mere spectators in the arena of national politics.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Saturday as part of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ meet-the-press programme, Mr. Sudheeran said the CPI(M) had maintained a shroud of secrecy on who had investigated the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case for the party and to what extent the probe went.
“The CPI (M) has not been able to take a transparent measure in the very case which had put them in the dock… In short, the party has lost the public’s trust quotient,” he said.
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He added that though V.S. Achuthanandan changed sides, the veteran leader’s questions in the T.P. case still remained pertinent.
To a question if the United Democratic Front had shown the same sort of opacity in the Nilambur murder case, in which a woman sweeper was allegedly killed inside the DCC office, Mr. Sudheeran protested, saying that a high-level investigation was on with a woman ADGP at its head.
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“The role of the Left in national politics is reduced to merely watching from the gallery,” Mr. Sudheeran said, adding that “blind opposition” to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was actually helping the Bharatiya Janata Party come to power at the Centre.
On BJP“Not in any other elections have the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh played such a direct role as it has in this one,” he said.
He said even the coinage of the slogan ‘Har Har Modi’ was an indication of “personality worship” which had taken over the BJP election campaign.
“The same ploys used to bring Hitler to power are in play for Modi,” Mr. Sudheeran said.
Kasturirangan reportAssuring the Congress party’s commitment to the welfare of the high-range farmer community, Mr. Sudheeran maintained that no adverse comments were made against Kerala by the National Green Tribunal.
His reaction came soon after news reports were aired that the tribunal, in a case filed by the Goa Foundation, an NGO, had observed that the November 13, 2013, direction issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests would continue for the time being.
The November 13 direction had originally sought to include 123 villages in the State as Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) as per the recommendations of the High Level Working Group led by Planning Commission Member K. Kasturiranagan.
“There are no adverse comments against Kerala from the National Green Tribunal. In fact, Kerala has done more than any of the other five States,” he said.
“The people of the high range have supported the Congress party for years. We are committed to ensuring their livelihoods unlike Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and the CPI(M) for whom this issue is only politics,” he said.