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Published Sep 05, 2024 | 12:03 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2024 | 12:03 PM
A fresh rift developing within #Kerala's Left Democratic Front (LDF) over the alleged meeting between MR Ajith Kumar and an RSS leader. (MR Ajith Kumar/Facebook)
Is there an unholy nexus between the Sangh Parivar and the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala? Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan does not doubt such an alliance.
After LDF MLA PV Anvar’s damning allegation that senior police officers, including ADGP (Law and Order) MR Ajith Kumar, have links with gold smugglers in the state, it was Satheesan’s turn to level charges at the officer and the government.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, 4 September, Satheesan said Kumar had a clandestine meeting with RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in Thrissur in May last year.
The allegation gained much traction in the state where the RSS and Sangh Parivar an anathema to both LDF and UDF.
Satheesan detailed the officer’s meeting. The ADGP parked his official vehicle at Hotel Hyatt in Thrissur and proceeded to the RSS camp at the Paramekavu Vidyamandir School in another vehicle.
He also alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had orchestrated the meeting to establish a political understanding ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The meeting, Satheesan said, lasted more than an hour. The RSS had held a camp at the school from 20 to 22 May 2023.
Satheesan contended that the ADGP, considered close to Vijayan, was sent to ensure that central agencies’ investigations into various issues would be avoided and that an agreement was struck to pave the way for the BJP to gain a foothold in Kerala during the parliamentary elections.
The timing and secrecy surrounding the meeting fuelled speculation that it was part of a broader strategy to manipulate the political scenario in the state.
Satheesan’s allegations did not stop at the secret meeting. He also pointed fingers at the state government’s handling of law and order during the Thrissur Pooram festival, hinting at deliberate police high-handedness to favor the BJP.
The Congress leader questioned why Kumar, who was present in Thrissur during the festival, did not intervene when the police commissioner allegedly mishandled the situation.
This, according to Satheesan, was part of a larger plot to undermine the secular fabric of Kerala and create a conducive environment for the BJP to expand its influence in the state.
Earlier, Anvar as well as LDF and UDF’s Thrissur Lok Sabha Constituency candidates VS Sunil Kumar and K Muraleedharan, respectively had come out with similar allegations that there was a plot to mar the fest so that the BJP capitalise on it in the election. Incidentally, BJP’s Suresh Gopi won the poll.
The allegations have put the ruling CPI(M) on the defensive, as the party has traditionally positioned itself as a staunch opponent of the RSS and BJP ideologies.
Neither the CPI(M) nor the BJP have responded to Satheesan’s allegations. Despite the silence of the parties concerned, it is certain that Kerala politics is heading towards tempestuous days.
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