Kottayam: CPM politburo member and former MP Subhashini Ali on Tuesday equated the Congress-ruled north Indian states with those where BJP in power even as she hailed the Left government in Kerala. At an election rally for Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Jaick C Thomas, she targeted the Congress-led governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh saying women and minorities were not safe in those states.
“We have to fight against the BJP and communal forces. In this fight, it is also necessary to strengthen the Left and the CPM. Onlt the CPM is fighting BJP and communalism in the country,” she said.
Subhashini spoke in detail about the plight of women in the country. She said Rajasthan is worst when it comes to crimes against women while Kerala topped the list of states in terms of safety of women.
“I’m not saying that we don’t have crimes against women in Kerala. Dowry related harassments and other crimes are happening here also. But the government here takes action against the culprits here. BJP supports rapists everywhere. But even in Rajasthan where the Congress is in power, those who commit crimes against women are protected,” she said.
The CPM leader, who is a half Malayali, slammed the BJP and Congress governments on accounts of food security, malnutrition, and healthcare.
She said the public distribution system in Chhattisgarh was in shambles and even goats were refusing to eat the free rice distributed to the poor people there.
Hailing the achievements of the Kerala government in healthcare, she narrated an anecdote involving her family in Anakkara village of Palakkad. “One of my aunts was living there all alone and when she was ill, someone asked her son who is abroad if he was not tensed. He said he was not tensed because his mother was in Kerala. Anakkara is a small village but there is a quality hospital and also two palliative centres – one in public and the other in private sector. At the same time, there is no public healthcare system in UP where I live. You may find cows tied up in primary health centres there. There are no doctors,” she said.
Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu, Animal Welfare Minister J Chinchurani, former health ministers, K K Shylaja and P K Sreemathi, and woman leaders of several LDF allies attended the meet. The meet was followed by a road show with Jaick in Pampady town.
