Accusing the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of practising hypocrisy and double standards, Union Minister for Defence Nirmala Sitaraman has said that though the Left leadership is critical of All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest in Wayanad, Left votes in the constituency will be transferred to him to ensure his victory.
She was addressing a public meeting as part of the election campaign of NDA candidate and Bharatiya Janata Party leader C.K. Padmanabhan here on Tuesday.
The Minister said that though Left leaders had stated that Mr. Gandhi was contesting in Wayanad for fear of defeat in Amethi and that the focus of the election battle would shift, the Left would ensure his victory in Wayanad.
The CPI(M) would say one thing and act something else, she added.
While the CPI(M) claimed to stand for equality of women and women empowerment, women had no role in it, Ms. Sitaraman said.
The CPI(M) was dominated by upper castes, she added.
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat had to struggle a lot to be elected to the CPI(M)’s Polit Bureau, she said.
Stressing that the BJP was different, she said that there were two women members including her in the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The CPI(M)’s stand opposing triple talaq, a practice rejected even in Muslim countries, was also an indication of the CPI(M)’s double standards, the Minister added.
Fear factor
Ms. Sitaraman said that the name of Kannur created fear and anxiety among the people because of the violence the CPI(M) perpetrated here to target people who had different ideology.
There were 700 districts in the country, but only one, Kannur, aroused the thought of fear in the minds of the people.
Stating that communism as an alien ideology, which was violent, she also said that it never brought development anywhere it had ruled. Development was not in the agenda of Communism wherever it ruled.
Ms. Sitaraman also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that his actions in the India-Pakistan border actually isolated Pakistan.
Each citizen should vote to ensure that Narendra Modi-led government was returned to power to save the nation from terror attacks and for development, she added.
