Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday asserted that his government has not changed its stand on the Sabarimala women entry issue, prompting state Congress chief Mullapally Ramachandran to say that the former's style of functioning will ensure that the CPM never again returns to power in the state.
Mullappaly's harsh reaction came soon after Pinarayi told the media that the stand of the CPM on the Sabarimala issue is the same and there has been no change in it.
"We abided by the Supreme Court directive (to allow women of all age groups enter the temple) and if there is a fresh order, which would be opposite to the present one, we will abide by that. We have no other interests," Pinarayi said after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Reacting to this, Mullappally said Pinarayi's stand was contradictory to what CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said recently. “It was just the other day Kodiyeri admitted that their stand on the Sabarimala temple issue was wrong. This doublespeak is what has sounded the death knell of the CPM in West Bengal and Tripura, as they are taking people for a ride,” Mullappally said. He said it is high time CPM made its position clear instead of beating around the bush.
Pala bypoll
On the upcoming by-election to the Pala Assembly constituency, Pinarayi said the election on September 23 would be one which assesses the performance of the Kerala government and he is quite confident of the outcome.
"We welcome Pinarayi's stand on this and he should have the same positive attitude when the results come out and when they lose badly, he should have the guts to put in his papers," Mullappally said.
Mullappally was also critical of the manner in which Pinarayi took great interest in acting when Kerala NDA convenor Thushar Vellapally was arrested in a cheque bounce case in UAE last week.
"Hundreds of our people are in various jails in the Middle East but only when Vellapally was arrested, it pained him a lot and hence he acted quickly, this is strange and defies logic," the Congress leader said.
He also pointed out that it's very surprising to see Pinarayi moving around with a convoy of 22 security vehicles and it happens even in his home town at Pinarayi in Kannur district.
"Crores of rupees are being spent on his security and it appears that Pinarayi has more security than even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Through all these acts, it appears that he is on a route to see that the CPM disappears into oblivion," Mullappally said.
(With inputs from IANS)
