Satheesan slams Pinarayi Vijayan for 'shifting stands', says he fears even an interview

Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Friday hit back at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his remarks on alleged Congress-RSS links, accusing the CPM veteran of indulging in both "majority and minority appeasement."

The exchange comes amid a war of words between the two sides ahead of the elections. The Congress had earlier alleged a CPM-BJP "deal", prompting Pinarayi to claim that Satheesan enjoyed the support of the RSS in North Paravoor.

Responding to the charge, Satheesan said the CM shifted his political stance after facing setbacks among minority communities in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "Pinarayi Vijayan promotes both majority and minority communalism depending on the situation. He keeps changing his stand," Satheesan told reporters.

He alleged that the Chief Minister had earlier welcomed Jamaat-e-Islami but later distanced himself from the organisation. "He had said his position on the Sabarimala women's entry issue would not change for votes. But after the parliamentary election setback, he went on an apology tour, visiting houses," Satheesan said.

Satheesan also accused the CPM of failing to act against party leaders allegedly involved in the Sabarimala gold smuggling case. "This Chief Minister is protecting dacoits and robbers. Now he is accusing Rahul Gandhi, who was questioned by the ED for 55 hours. The Chief Minister’s son received a summons, but nobody knows what happened to it," he alleged.

Responding to allegations of his links with the RSS, Satheesan said BJP workers stage protest marches to his residence regularly. "They have always worked strongly against me. BJP is working to defeat Congress," he said, reiterating his claim that there is a CPM-BJP "deal" in several constituencies.

On the allegation that he had attended an RSS event in North Paravoor, Satheesan said that earlier he used to attend events of all parties, including CPM, CPI and RSS, to present the Congress stand as part of debates.

Satheesan said that unlike Pinarayi, he did not win elections with the support of the RSS. "When I asked him in the Assembly about a meeting held with RSS at Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, for which he arrived not in his official car, he sat bowing his head. He has not given an answer to it till now," Satheesan said.

Satheesan said that his interview with Manorama News was removed from Facebook after police approached Meta. "Even they fear an interview. It was removed following police direction. What right do the police have to remove that interview as I did not say anything wrong in it," he said.

When told that the Election Commission had directed police only to remove a comment in the interview, Satheesan asked what was wrong in the comment. "It was not done by the Election Commission but by the Kerala Police," he said.

He said it is fear that is ruling the state, which is common among all autocrats and added that it is Narendra Modi's brother who is ruling Kerala. "Hitler had fear, Stalin had fear and Pinarayi Vijayan also has fear. Chief Minister Vijayan is a coward who fears even an interview," he said.