CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Ma Bibi on Saturday criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on Pinarayi Vijayan at the India Caucus meeting and said the LJD was only urged to stop being a “facilitator of the Democratic Party and the Modi government”.
Gandhi had earlier said that he “cannot hug” former Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan, as he has an ongoing political battle with him. He was speaking at the June 8 meeting after Left leaders objected to statements made by him and other senior Congress leaders ahead of the Assembly elections in the southern state – alleging a tacit understanding between the then ruling Communist Party of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“No one is asking Rahul Gandhi to hug Pinarayi Vijayan,” Bibi said in response to Gandhi’s remarks.
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“On the contrary, all we are asking is that he stop playing the role of facilitator for the CEO and the Modi government by demanding the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan and other opposition leaders. This is not the job of an opposition leader,” he said in X, a day after Gandhi released his comments made at the India Caucus meeting.
“We have our battles, but if you ask me to go and hug the former chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and will not do so because I have an ongoing political battle with him,” Gandhi said.
He added, “So we have to be flexible and we have to realize that there is a widespread attack on us in an attempt to prove that the opposition is weak and disorganized.”
According to sources familiar with the discussions, during the India Caucus meeting, CPI Rajya Sabha leader John Prithas raised concerns over allegations made during the Assembly election campaign, including allegations of a tacit understanding between the Left and the BJP.
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Ahead of the meeting, Bibi also wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and objected to the allegations, terming them against the spirit of cooperation within the opposition alliance.
At the meeting, Prithas said that while the CPI(M) could politically challenge accusations made by Congress leaders, it was a different story when such statements came from Gandhi, one of the key faces of the alliance.
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He said the alliance had come together to fight the BJP and wondered what was the purpose of partners sitting together if one voter publicly accused another of helping the ruling party.
