In Kerala fray, LoP Satheesan throws down gauntlet to Vijayan, rides on ‘anti-incumbency’
Key Congress front-runner in CM race, Satheesan pitches for change, rakes up Sabarimala gold theft case, claims UDF will "create a new Kerala where our children will be safe and our youths will get jobs”
Satheesan in his Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district. After waiting for him for more than two hours, a quiet crowd suddenly seems to come alive as an announcement is made: “Jananayakan (people’s leader) is coming.”
In an open jeep, senior Congress leader V D Satheesan arrives at the rally, accompanied by the IUML’s sitting MLA and current candidate Najeeb Kanthapuram. He waves to people lined up on either side of the highway at Karinkallathani in the Perinthalmanna constituency of the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district.
The 61-year-old Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Satheesan has been spearheading the Congress-led UDF’s campaign for the April 9 Assembly elections across Kerala. The IUML has been a major constituent of the UDF.
Hundreds of IUML workers join Satheesan’s roadshow in two-wheelers with the party’s green flags. As he steps out of the jeep amid loud slogan-shouting by the UDF workers, a group of IUML activists lift him over their shoulders and carry him through the large gathering onto the stage.
As the district Congress and IUML leaders have already addressed the meeting, Najeeb just says, “We (UDF) are going to come to power with 100-plus seats (of the state’s 140).’’ The crowd bursts into cheers.
The IUML leader then claims, “There is no doubt that Satheesan will be at the helm of the new UDF government.” He also presents his constituency’s demands before Satheesan, underlining that many youths have been forced to migrate from there in search of jobs. It is another matter that even the polls, leave aside their results, have yet to take place.
The LoP begins his speech by highlighting the pledges of the UDF manifesto, which he released earlier in the day in Kochi before heading to Malappuram for campaigning. “Our manifesto has been prepared after two years of homework. No other Opposition in the country has taken up such a task so meticulously,” he says, adding that “We have the will power to implement its promises”.
He then takes a dig at Chief Minister and CPI(M) stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan over his claim that he was ready for a debate with the LoP. When Satheesan accepted his challenge, Vijayan said there was no need for a “face to face debate” as it could be done through social media.
“Vijayan has disappointed me,” says Satheesan. “He cannot directly take our questions. He can answer only on Facebook. That is what he is doing now.’’
With the CPI(M)-led LDF running a social media campaign against Satheesan, calling him a leader who speaks “lies”, the latter trains his guns on the CM, alleging that Vijayan has been “lying” about the number of houses for the poor constructed during the tenure of the previous Congress-led UDF government. “We built 4.43 lakh houses in five years, whereas the LDF government has been able to construct only 5 lakh houses in 10 years,” he says.
Rejecting Vijayan’s charge that the Congress has joined hands with the Muslim outfit Jamaat-e-Islami for electoral gains, the LoP accuses him of betraying “double standard’’ by ignoring the “CPI(M)’s links with Jamaat-e-Islami and RSS”. He says: “I released a video in which Vijayan welcomes Jamaat-e-Islami’s support to his party.’’
He also cites the infidelity row involving Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar, saying that Vijayan has not dropped him from his Cabinet.
“In 2013, when Vijayan was the state CPI(M) secretary, Ganesh Kumar was a minister in the then Oommen Chandy-led government and faced a similar allegation. Then Vijayan demanded Ganesh’s removal, and Chandy got his resignation letter the next day. Now, Ganesh is facing a more serious charge. I thought he would fire Ganesh, but the CM says it is only a family matter. This is called double standards.”
Raking up the Sabarimala gold theft case, a key Opposition plank against the LDF in this election, Satheesan says, “Senior CPI(M) leaders were jailed in connection with theft of gold from the Sabarimala temple. Why is the party still not taking any action against them.”
He says the Congress is also ready for holding a debate with the CPI(M) over development. “When late Chandy laid the foundation for Vizhinjam seaport during his tenure, the CPI(M) called it a looting of the sea. Now, they are taking claims for this project. When we tried to lay the GAIL pipeline, the present Industries Minister P Rajeeve said it was a ticking bomb under the earth.”
Claiming that the UDF will “come to power with over 100 seats”, he says, “We will defeat the LDF and create a new Kerala where our children will be safe and our youths will get jobs.”
Flagging “anti-incumbency” against the two-term LDF regime, he maintains that “Great change is going to happen in Kerala as people are up in arms against this government”.
A legislator from the Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district, Satheesan has been winning his seat for five consecutive terms since 2001. While there are several chief ministerial aspirants in the Congress camp, he is widely considered to be a key front-runner in the race for the top post in the event of the party’s victory.
In February this year, he had taken out a statewide tour in a bid to galvanise the Congress’s rank and file for the high-stakes elections.
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