Kochi: Rahul Gandhi’s election rally in Wayanad has given the CPM another weapon to attack the Congress. Pointing to the absence of party flags in the massive procession held in Kalpetta on Wednesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the Congress has stooped to a new low that it fears to hold up its own flag fearing communal forces.
The chief minister, also a CPM politburo member, was referring to a media report that the Congress and its allies abandoned their party flags during the Rahul rally fearing it might create a controversy as in 2019. Then, the BJP had played up at the national level the use of Congress ally IUML’s green flag. The images of the green flag were used to stir up a fake campaign that Rahul was getting Pakistan’s support.
Apparently, to deny the BJP an opportunity to repeat the same campaign this time, the Congress-led United Democratic Front decided not to use any flag, including that of Rahul’s party, during the rally this time.
“Rahul Gandhi is contesting on Congress ticket and he is a national leader. It was his first election rally in Kerala this time. A media reported that Congress and League flags were avoided due to controversy last year. Isn't it a kind of cowardice? The Congress wants the League’s votes but doesn’t want its flags. While trying hard not to show the League’s flag to the world, Congress stooped to hiding its own flag,” Pinarayi said at a press meet here.
The CM reminded the Congress about the history of its tricolour flag. “The Swaraj flag was designed in 1921 based on Mahatma Gandhi’s idea that it should represent the freedom struggle. The flag represented all Indians cutting across caste and religious lines. The national flag of the great democratic republic of India was designed based on that flag. How many Congress workers have suffered the brutal assault of British police for holding that flag? Doesn’t the Congress know the history of its own flag? Now the Congress is hiding the same flag fearing communal forces. It’s the Sangh Parivar that wants the Congress flag eliminated. Is the new Congress succumbing to the Sangh Parivar’s wish,” Pinarayi asked.
The CPM veteran said the incident cannot be written off as an election tactic and the people will see through it.
Criticising the Congress over the support extended by the Social Democratic Party of India – the political arm of the now-banned Popular Front of India – Pinarayi said the UDF’s stance was opportunistic.
On the media reports that the Directorate Enforcement has initiated a probe into the CPM’s ‘secret bank accounts’, the chief minister replied that the party does not need a secret account. "We don’t accept black money. Only communist parties showed the courage to call electoral bonds corrupt. For us, everything is transparent. People have the right to know how much money they have given us. Our income comes from membership fees, levies and through public donations. People have supported us wholeheartedly. All the common people who support us financially may not be our supporters, but they know it’s for them also,” Pinarayi said.
