CPM rejects Muslim League idea of Congress-led secular front in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM has rejected the Muslim League’s appeal to the Left parties to shed their blind anti- Congressism and become part of a broader secular front for opposing the BJP and Sangh Parivar at the national level.

Reacting to the League’s suggestion, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said, “The CPM and Left parties have never pursued blind anti- Congressism. We are opposed to the economic policies of the Congress, including its neo-liberal policies.’’ It was the “anti people” policy of the UPA government that paved the way for Modi-led BJP government to come to power in Delhi, he said and added that the neo-liberal policies adopted by the UPA during its decade-long rule had helped the BJP grow rapidly across the country.

He said the people had voted for the BJP to get rid of Congress’s neo-liberal policies but the Modi government, after coming to power, was pursuing the same economic agenda.

“Like the Congress, the BJP government too is appeasing corporates and big business. It has failed to control the prices of essential commodities,’’ he said and added that the Left parties could not take the Congress on board in its fight against such policies. Mr Pinarayi said the need of the hour was to forge a broader unity of non-BJP and non-Congress secular parties which can oppose the neo-liberal polices and Hindutva agenda of the RSS-BJP combine with equal force.