Shah’s diatribe leaves BJP allies red-faced

BJP president has compared Wayanad with Pakistan

Amit Shah

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) raking up Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah’s comparison of Wayanad with Pakistan as a prime campaign issue across the State has come as a major embarrassment for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents, especially the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena which has fielded its president Thushar Vellappally in the Lok Sabha segment.

Though BJP leaders have time and again been reiterating that they do not expect the votes of Indian Union Muslim League cadre or sympathisers, as a candidate, Thushar can ill-afford to adopt such a strident stance. Much more precarious is the position of the BJP candidates in other segments, even Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram, where the party claims to have high stakes and minority communities wield the clout to tilt the scale.

Authorisation of Mr. Shah’s views would seriously erode their chances.

Serious impact

Mr. Shah’s comparison is feared to have a serious impact in all segments, especially since the LDF has made it a prime campaign plank in the last leg of electioneering.

Though the BJP State unit has been reiterating that it does not profess an anti-minority stance, Mr. Shah’s observation as well as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath comment terming the Indian Union Muslim League as a virus have lent sufficient ammunition to the LDF and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) to target the BJP.

Since the LDF, especially the front’s leading party Communist Party of India (Marxist), is being seen as the principal party that takes on the Sangh Parivar in the State, its accent on the issue is expected to fortify its position among the minorities.

More vehement was LDF convener A.Vijayaraghavan who said the front would make a concerted bid to expose the communal appeasement plans of the BJP and the UDF.

“We are determined to bare the anti-minority stance of the BJP and its leaders and the tacit deal the Congress and Muslim League have struck with it for electoral gains.

The alliance would not bring home any palpable results in this election anywhere in the State, but the LDF is bound to bring it to public glare,” he says.

Intensify

The spat between the rival fronts and the BJP over the issue is expected to intensify in the concluding phase when Mr. Shah himself is expected to campaign in the State.