Defence Minister A.K. Antony has said that the coming Lok Sabha election will decide whether the country will be able to retain its rich secular tradition.
In spite of isolated incidents, India was the only place in the world where people of various religions lived in harmony, Mr. Antony said after laying the foundation stone for the R. Sankar-C.M. Stephen Memorial building at the DCC complex here on Sunday.
Flag-bearer of traditionMr. Antony said the Congress was the true flag-bearer of that tradition. He said the main challenger to the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha election was a political party that tried to dilute and destroy this rich tradition.
“The Congress should not get defeated before this challenge. If we lose, the nation will lose its tradition,” he said. So Kerala should also contribute to maintaining that tradition by sending maximum number of Congress and United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs to the Lok Sabha, he said.
Mr. Antony said the influence of the CPI(M) among the people was fast eroding. The Left, in general, and the CPI(M), in particular, were a group that was unwilling to change with the times. The CPI(M) always failed to read the writing on the wall. But the Congress was a party that always did it and corrected accordingly.
He said that on coming to Kerala after a two-month gap, he found a new awakening among the leaders and cadres of his party. Their confidence had been boosted by the pro-UDF political climate in the State. “The political situation in Kerala is on our side,” he said.
This situation had to be tapped in the right manner to provide a record victory for the Congress and the UDF. In Kollam district, all the three parliamentary seats were won by the Congress last time and it should be ensured that these were retained this time too, Mr. Antony said.
Amidst thundering applause, he said he was returning to Delhi on Sunday with confidence and would inform the AICC that the people of Kerala were with the Congress this time too.
‘Soft Hindutva’ standPresiding over the function, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the CPI(M) was adopting a ‘soft Hindutva’ stand in the coming Lok Sabha elections. “That is the reason why it has welcomed into its fold a group of people who had formerly raised slogans and praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.”
He said the CPI(M) was adopting such an approach as it had failed to counter the Congress and the UDF during the past five years. The CPI(M) had lost it face and the people of the State were with the UDF. In every election the CPI(M) played a communal card.
In the last election, it played the minority communalism card. But secular Kerala defeated that. This time too the people of Kerala would defeat the ‘soft Hindutva’ card promoted by the CPI(M). He alleged the CPI(M) gave shelter to those behind political murders. The party was facing ideological bankruptcy, he said.
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Kodikunnil Suresh, DCC president Pratapavarma Thampan, and Congress leaders C.V. Padmarajan, Sooranad Rajashekaran, K.C. Rajan, Padmaja Venugopal, and Bharatheepuuram Sasi were present.
