CPI not averse to joining hands with Cong to take on BJP: Rajendran

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI in Kerala today said the party was not averse to joining hands with the Congress to take on the BJP.

CPI state secretary Kannam Rajendran, however, said the stand on an electoral alliance would be clear only after its 23rd party congress next year.

The CPI is of the opinion that all democratic forces in the country, including the Congress, have to move together to fight the BJP and RSS, he told reporters here.

However, fighting elections is based on coalition politics and a decision on that could be arrived only after discussions, Rajendran said.

Asked if the Congress would be included in the Left parties’ fight, along with “democratic forces”, against the “Sangh Parivar policies”, the CPI leader said, the Congress is not an “untouchable”.

The party congress of both the CPI and the CPI(M) is scheduled to be held next year and a concrete stand on their electoral approach would be clear only after that, Rajendran said.

The CPI is the second largest partner in the the CPI(M)- led LDF government in Kerala.

Attacking the BJP government at the Centre over implementation of the GST, Rajendran said the slogan of ‘One tax-One nation’ has caused suffering to the people.

“Similarly, they are unilaterally trying to impose ideas such as ‘one language-one nation’, ‘one election-one nation’, and ‘one nation-one religion,” he alleged.

The CPI leader also alleged that the ongoing ‘Jana Raksha Yatra’ led by state BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharaan was only to create communal tension in the state.

Flaying BJP president Amit Shah’s comment on ‘love jihad’ in the state, Rajendran said such remarks only aimed at tarnishing the image of Kerala at the national level.

Shah had said, “Love jihad is a dangerous trend. The Kerala government has not taken effective steps to check it. The Supreme Court has already passed an order on it and the NIA is investigating it.”

Asked whether the Kerala Congress (M), led by former state minister K M Mani, would be invited to join the LDF, the CPI leader said no such discussion were underway.

He also rejected any possibility of accepting Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), floated by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, into the LDF fold, if it came out of the NDA.