Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday targeted Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, calling them the “B-team” of the BJP, as the political fight ahead of the state elections intensifies.Addressing a press conference in Ernakulam, Vijayan said Rahul Gandhi lacked even the basic understanding expected from a Congress worker in Kerala. “Rahul Gandhi is a national leader, yet he lacks the basic awareness of even a common local worker of Congress in Kerala; he simply refuses to learn from experience or mistakes. It is hard to understand how such a downfall is happening to him,” he said. “Rahul Gandhi and his Congress are the ‘B-team’ of the BJP in the country, and yet its stance is being adopted across India,” he added.The remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling Left Democratic Alliance (LDF) of having a hidden understanding with the BJP. Launching the United Democratic Alliance (UDF) campaign in Kozhikode, Rahul said there were only two sides in Kerala politics.“There are actually only two sides fighting here in Keralam. One is the UDF alliance, and the other is the partnership between the BJP and the LDF. The UDF unites people, listens to them, and embraces and empowers them. The LDF and their hidden partner divide people and crush them,” Rahul said.He also questioned the state government’s job promises. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national employment pledge and the Keralam government’s commitments, he said, “Modi ji promised 2 crore jobs at the national level. Keralam Chief Minister promised 40 lakh jobs in the state, and after a decade, you find that they have not given a single job to the people; in fact, they have destroyed jobs.”The Congress leader further said that both the BJP and the LDF do not see themselves as accountable to the people. “Neither the BJP nor the LDF believes they are answerable to the people. They do not believe that the people of Keralam should be able to ask them questions,” he said.Keralam will go to polls in a single phase on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4. The term of the current assembly ends on May 23.
