Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi over 'Congress Mukt Bharat' jibe, slams Left over 'division'

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ''Congress Mukt Bharat'' jibe and said the BJP leader seems to have issues only with the grand old party and not with the CPI(M).

Addressing a rally in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, “The Left front does the same division as the BJP, they spread the same hatred. It's interesting to me, the PM spends every single day saying 'Congress Mukt Bharat', I have never heard him say 'CPM Left Front Mukt Bharat or Kerala'.”

The Wayanad MP, who is in the final phase of campaigning for the Kerala Assembly elections opined that the BJP does not have a problem with the ruling CPI(M) but only the Congress. Gandhi also alleged that the BJP uses Central agencies to crackdown on rival politicians.

“In every single government where BJP is not present, the PM uses the CBI and ED to overthrow or attack the govt. I want to understand why they are not doing that to Left Front. It is a mystery to me,” the Congress leader said.

While Congress has allied with the Left in West Bengal, the Congress-led UDF is the main contender to the Left-led LDF in Kerala. Rahul Gandhi has now launched an open attack on its own ally, alleging that it colludes with the BJP. Besides this, Congress has often called out the LDF government over corruption charges and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. 

Kerala elections

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly election, the CPI(M)-led Left Front swept the 140-member Assembly by bagging 91 seats. On the other hand, UDF managed to win only in 47 constituencies. After the LDF won, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on May 25, 2016. While the UDF made huge gains in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by winning 19 out of 20 seats in the state, the ruling alliance made a comeback in the local body polls held in December 2020 by winning 7,262 seats as against that of UDF and NDA that could win 5,893 and 1,182 seats respectively. 

Though Vijayan remains the CM face for LDF, the UDF has not yet projected any Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming election. On the other hand, BJP is hoping to make inroads in the state by roping in Metroman E Sreedharan as its election candidate from Palakkad. In Kerala, 140 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 40,771 polling stations. While the polling will be conducted in a single phase on April 6, the counting of votes is scheduled for May 2.