CPI(M) attacking BJP workers out of desperation: Rajagopal

A senior Kerala BJP leader today accused the ruling CPI(M) of unleashing attacks on the saffron party workers "out of desperation".

O Rajagopal, the lone BJP MLA in the Kerala assembly, said the CPI(M) had been targeting the saffron party out of "desperation" as the party was gaining ground in the southern state.

He also claimed that the BJP has started attracting the people from backward communities, a constituency which earlier sided with the Left. It has further infuriated the ruling CPI (M), he added.

He cited the July 29 killing of RSS worker Rajesh in the state capital to buttress his claim.
 

Rajagopal said his party was for peace, but rued its approach in this connection was not being shared by the Left party.

"They talk about freedom of speech, tolerance and democracy. But here, they practice intolerance towards views held by others.

"It is not only the RSS-BJP, even workers of the CPI, Congress and other parties have suffered atrocities at the hands of CPI(M)," Rajagopal told reporters here.

To drive home his point, Rajagopal, a former union minister, alleged that the CPI(M) is not allowing the RSS-BJP combine carry out their activities in the state, particularly in the violence-hit Kannur district.

Kannur is the home turf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and witnessed six of the 14 murders, allegedly perpetrated by CPI(M) workers, after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) regained power in the state last year.

"They have developed 'party grams' (party villages) where no other party worker or leader is allowed to even enter or visit people. These villages have voters of the CPI(M)," the legislator said.

Rajagopal, however, exuded confidence that the BJP was gaining ground in the state. Referring to the Mattanoor municipal election, which the CPI(M)-led LDF won handsomely winning 28 of 35 seats, he said that the BJP emerged second in nine wards.

"We were second in two wards during the last civic poll. Now this time, we are second in nine wards. In two of them, the BJP stood second, while the CPI(M) is third. This has made the CPI(M) desperate," he said.

He also said that the BJP was for peace in the state. However, he alleged, the CPI(M) had not been following the "code of conduct" the two parties had agreed upon during peace talks held in the 1980s.