We will defeat Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad: Kodeyeri Balakrishnan
Exclusive interview with Vartha Bharati
Communits Party of India (Marxist) Kerala Secretary and politburo member of the CPI (M) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was in Kasargod on Wednesday where he spoke exclusively to Vartha Bharati and discussed a range of issues including the party’s preparedness ahead of the election and campaigning. He also spoke about the possibility of Kerala Left Front winning majority of seats in the state during this election. Here are the excerpts.
How is the election campaigning going on in the state?
The campaigning has been really good so far. We have received remarkable response from the voters too. During the last parliamentary election LDF won 8 out of 20 seats and we hope to increase that number this time. We will win more seats than UDF, we are confident about it.
People’s perception is, if there is LDF regime in the state the UDF will win the Parliamentary Election. Is that true?
The credit to that perception should go to the media coverage. All the media here in the state are managed by the Congress.
Why do you think the media is against LDF?
The journalists there are not against us, but their corporate managements are under the control of Congress. The corporate media is against CPI (M) and also are managed by Congress. So they propagate against us in the state. Even during the last assembly election the media was against us, but we won. The media survey had then predicted us to win 60 seats in the election but we won 91 seats. During the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the media reports suggested that we will win 6 seats but we won 18 at that time while Congress did not win even a single seat. So we have stopped caring about what these media surveys say, we are not bothered about it.
Do you think the Sabrimala issue will affect LDF in this election?
Not really, the UDF and BJP are campaigning about Sabrimala issue. I don’t think it will cost LDF in the election because the LDF did not take any decision on Sabrimala issue. The Supreme Court delivered the verdict on Sabrimala and it can only be changed through legal measures. Our Government only said that the state government is bound to obey by the orders of Supreme Court. We received directions from Central Government to implement the orders of Supreme Court. We were told that additional police force or central forces will be deployed by the central government if required to implement the SC’s orders on the issue.
We did not take any action on the worshippers, the state police only booked cases against hooligans and it was to maintain law and order. No action or case against worshippers have been booked, it is a false propaganda by the Prime Minister.
What makes you so confident that LDF will put on an improved performance in this election?
There are a lot of reasons behind this confidence. Primarily, we have leftist stand against communalism. We haven’t compromised with the RSS and stands firm against RSS policies and agendas. Minorities, Dalits and all other oppressed sections of the society are in favour of left front. The government’s achievements have convinced and satisfied people and that will be an advantage for us going into the election.
55 lakh people are being given 1,200 rupees monthly, every year the farmers are being paid 14,400 Rs. for their agricultural expenses, plus the disables persons are also receiving various benefits from the state government. In addition to the earlier dues this month pension of 5,600 Rs. pensions will be distributed. Over 20 lakh people are the beneficiaries of welfare funds and about 75 lakh people are being benefited by various other schemes and programs of the state government. You will not find such schemes and programs in any other states. Earlier during UDF government only 600 Rs. were being given as pension, we have doubled it and made it 1200 Rs. All these have played an important role in making sure that there are no farmers’ suicide cases in the state and this has led to support from the farming industry to our government.
Similarly, this government has been experimental in job creation as one lakh 55 thousand jobs have been created and that looked like an impossible job for the previous government in the state. We have created over 20000 new jobs in Education and Health sectors. Minimum wages program were fixed for the nurses even in the private hospitals. Various facilities have been introduced for the development SC/ST section. If Dalits have are to flourish, they should get quality education and our government facilitated this them and as a result the Dalits students are not studying engineering and medical colleges in the state. The government bears the fees of these students in private colleges.
Similar opportunities were also provided to the students of fishermen community, 28 students from the community were admitted to MBBS seats. Ten Dalit students were given scholarships to study abroad in countries like UK and USA. All these are our achievements and it is going o help us in the election.
The BJP is also confident of getting a couple of seats in the state. What do you think about it?
No, the BJP will not get any seat in the state. They have spent a lot of money this time to try and secure a couple of seats but it will all be wasted. PM Modi also visited the state but the BJP should know that mere visit to the state by PM will not earn them seats here. If it was possible they would have won seats when PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Kerala before 2004 election but they didn’t win any seat in that election. It is not Gujarat, it is Kerala and the BJP should know that and you can’t just win seats like that here.
Will Muslims in Kerala support you in this election?
Muslims in Kerala don’t see what the stand of Muslim organisation in the election is or which party they are supporting. Muslims of Kerala are educated Muslims. They are against Congress. They have opposed Congress always as they are aware of the fact that Congress government was in power when the Babri Masjid was demolished. During Gujarat riots over 2000 Muslims were killed, during Mumbai riots over 1000 Muslims were killed and on all these occasions Congress government was in power at the centre.
The Congress cannot fight or compete with the BJP now, their own people are joining BJP. That’s what happened in Goa, Manipur and Karnataka. Leaders of several parties in BJP have recently joined BJP. The Congress could not do anything about triple talaq bill that was present in Lok Sabha, the Congress also remained silent on Citizenship bill recently. But the left parties have taken strong stand on important issues and this will be a plus point for the left front. Now Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad and there is support for him from the Muslim League, he visited the state and Muslim League’s cadre were present in the rally along with their flags, BJP then alleged that Muslim league used Pakistan flags in Rahul Gandhi’s rally, the Congress couldn’t strongly reply to those allegations too.
All this has not gone done well with the Muslims in state and people are turning to left front with their support. The left front is stronger now, in other states you won’t find such a scenario. Even in Congress ruled states people are not allowed to wear the dresses they want, eat what they want because the left parties in those states are weaker but in Kerala the left is stronger compared to other states. So no such things are taking place here, the left has been constantly fighting RSS here.
Kerala without left front cannot be imagined and for this reason secular voters have been supporting us.
You have called upon party workers to make sure Rahul Gandhi is defeated from Wayanad.
Yes, we will definitely defeat him at Wayanad. The UDF won with only 21,000 votes’ margin in the previous Lok Sabha election. Then in the assembly election the margin was reduced to 19,000 votes. Then the LJD party was in alliance with UDF, now it is in alliance with left parties and that will be an advantage for us.
The situation has not changed even after Rahul Gandhi announced to contest from Wayanad, so I think it won’t be difficult to defeat him.
Kerala is the only state with left front government in the country. What will be the role of Left front in the formation of government at centre post Lok Sabha Election?
I can’t comment anything on this at the moment. Let the election finish we will see into it later.
It is being said that the left is also approaching soft Hindutva politics. How true is that?
No, it is something impossible. We clearly oppose both (Hindu and Muslims) communalism. We will never compromise with secularism. Our 236 activists have been killed by RSS.
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Madras High Court seeks report on youtuber Savukku Shankar's health amid custodial torture allegatio
Chennai: In response to allegations of custodial torture against YouTuber Savukku Shankar, the Madras High Court has requested a report from the District Legal Services Authority, Coimbatore, regarding his health condition.
The vacation bench comprising Justice AD Jagadish Chandira and Justice R Kalaimathi has instructed the authority to furnish a report by May 9, 2024. This decision came after being informed that the DLSA had deployed three empaneled lawyers and a specialist doctor to assess Shankar's health. The directive stemmed from a habeas corpus petition filed by Shankar's mother, Kamala, seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of her son in custody and urging for his adequate medical care in a government hospital.
Shankar was arrested by the Coimbatore police on May 4, following a complaint by a female journalist regarding defamatory statements against women police officers. He has been detained in judicial custody until May 17, facing charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and related statutes. Shankar's mother alleges that he sustained severe injuries, including a fractured right hand, due to police brutality while in custody. Moreover, she asserts that the prison authorities have neglected to provide appropriate medical treatment, thereby violating his fundamental rights.
During the court proceedings, Senior Advocate John Sathyan, representing Shankar, argued that his client showed no signs of injury upon arrest but later exhibited a fractured hand, indicating possible custodial violence. Although Sathyan requested the court to allow Shankar to be presented via video conferencing for examination of his injuries, the court deemed it unnecessary, stating it would broaden the scope of the habeas corpus petition.
