Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday launched a sharp counterattack on Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge over their criticism of the party in poll-bound Kerala, accusing the Congress of targeting the Left for electoral gains while going soft on the BJP.In a strongly worded statement, the CPI(M) said the Congress was reneging on its claim of fighting communal-authoritarian forces and had instead become “a feeder organisation for the BJP.”The CPI(M) Polit Bureau also strongly disapproved of what it called the “provocative statements” made by Rahul Gandhi and Kharge against Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the secular credentials of the party.“Such canards are being spread by them to secure cheap electoral gains in the Assembly elections. By targeting the CPI(M) instead of the BJP, the Congress leaders are reneging on their claim of fighting communal-authoritarian forces. The people of Kerala will see through this sinister agenda,” CPI(M) said in a statement.The response came after Rahul Gandhi and Kharge launched a broadside against the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) while kicking off the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) campaign for the Kerala elections from Kozhikode on Wednesday.Gandhi alleged that there was an understanding between the LDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.“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,” he said while addressing the campaign through video conferencing.He also referred to cases filed against opposition leaders and questioned why similar action had not been taken against the Kerala Chief Minister.Gandhi said he himself had around 40 cases and had been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for five consecutive days, and alleged that the lack of similar action against Vijayan “despite corruption cases” was evidence of a BJP-LDF understanding.Responding to the allegations, the CPI(M), which is also a constituent of the INDIA bloc along with the Congress, said the Congress should introspect on why many of its leaders in different states had joined the BJP.“It is a well-known fact that the present BJP Chief Minister of Assam held important portfolios in the earlier Congress government. In Tripura, the entire Congress leadership joined the BJP in 2018 in order to defeat the Left Front. Many ministers in the Union government and Members of Parliament belonging to the BJP were earlier prominent leaders in the Congress. The Congress became a feeder organisation for the BJP,” the statement said.The party further accused the Congress of allying with minority fundamentalist forces in the state.“Even in these elections, the Congress is allying with minority fundamentalist forces. The Congress-League-BJP nexus has been exposed in various elections in Kerala, including the recently concluded local body elections,” it said.Kerala will go to the polls on April 9 and votes will be counted on May 4. The Congress-led UDF is seeking to unseat the ruling LDF.