Criticising PM Modi not sedition: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
KOCHI: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the BJP was unleashing a propoganda that criticising Narendra Modi amounts to sedition.
“I have only criticised Modi and will do so again. I am not afraid of going to prison on that count. Let them prove if they have any charge of sedition,” he added.
Mr Kodiyeri said that international pressure forced Pakistan to release hostage Abhinandan Vardhaman. When asked if the party supported the stand of China on Indo-Pak issues, he said the CPM held the party flag with the flag of the country and not that of any other nation.
He alleged that the BJP was trying to cash in politically on the Air Force strike against Pakistan terror camps.
“The statement of Yeddyurappa is proof of that. It was not an achievement of the BJP. It shows the strength of the military and the nation,” he said.
Mr Kodiyeri said that the most wanted terrorist now, Mazood Azhar, was released during the regime of previous BJP government during the Kandahar plane hijack crisis.
He also came down on RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat for his statements that belittled the Indian military.
“He had said that Indian forces needed six months to prepare for the war while RSS men need three or four days. No one else had said anything like that,” said Mr Kodiyeri.
Reiterating his charge that Congress leaders tend to join the BJP once they are elected, Mr Kodiyeri cited the examples of several turncoat leaders.
“It has happened not just in Manipur, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, or in the case of the likes Rita Bahuguna and S.M. Krishna. Back in Kerala former Travancore Devaswom Board president G. Raman Nair, former PSC chairman K.S. Radhakrishnan and former Women’s Commission member J. Prameela Devi, all of them Congress leaders, have now become BJP leaders. It is a reality only,” said Mr Kodiyeri.
He was clarifying on his charge that ‘hands’ if elected will bloom into ‘lotuses’ when questioned. The CPM secretary was asked if the statement was aimed at pocketing minority votes.
Asking Gautam Adani to step back from his bid to take over the Trivandrum International airport, he said that cutting party lines, all should come together to resist the move.
“Adani should not think that without the co-operation of the state government, he would be able to take over and run the airport,” he said adding the Central government completely ignored the proposals of the state government to run the airport.
The CPM state secretary said that the results of the byelections to the local bodies recently showed that the LDF is on firm wicket and there was no negative fallout of the Sabarimala issue. On the twin murders at Periya, he said the party had already condemned it and the government is taking strong actions too. He also said that LDF is in a position to declare party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in no time once the elections are declared.
