The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) raised the accidental bomb blast that killed two Assamese natives at Iritty in Kannur on July 7 in the Assembly on Wednesday with the clear intention to highlight the bomb culture in Kannur and to put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on the back foot.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, instead of responding to the various incidents of accidental blasts in Kannur listed out by Opposition MLAs, used the occasion to argue that the Congress was secretly encouraging extremist forces like the RSS and SDPI to disrupt peace in Kerala.
Congress MLA Sunny Joseph, while moving the adjournment motion on the issue, referred to accidental blasts in various parts of Kannur like Naduvanad, Maruthayi, Thillenkeri, Panur, Koladi, Kudiyanmala and Cheruvancheri in which innocent children and women were killed or maimed for life. He said that many CPM and BJP workers were also killed or injured while in the process of manufacturing bombs.
He also spoke of how a bomb went off in the hand of CPM leader P Jayarajan's son. "Though it was initially said that it was a Vishu cracker, the police were forced to register a case against Jayarajan's son," Sunny Joseph said. He said that the police had still not been able to find who manufactured these bombs and the intended targets. Opposition Leader V D Satheesan later said that the police had not been able to create any leads in 80 per cent of these accidental blast cases.
The chief minister, in his reply, blamed the Congress for attempting to create the narrative that the CPM was unleashing widespread violence in Kerala. "But they are not in the least suspicious about the activities of extremist elements like the RSS and SDPI who are making a concerted bid to undermine peace in Kerala," the chief minister said. He said that the RSS, Popular Front and SDPI were behind most of the violence in Kannur.
He said Sunny Joseph's refusal to mention the RSS and the SDPI in his speech was proof that the Congress was encouraging these forces . "His notice mentions about the CPM but there is not a word against another political party. Is he trying to say some of the explosions were apolitical bomb blasts?," Vijayan said, and added: "This just shows his party's extreme interest in fundamentalist forces."
During his turn, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan hurled a poser at the chief minister. "If as you say the RSS and SDPI are behind most of the attacks, why have you not taken action against them in any of the blast cases. Forget the cases involving the CPM but seven of your own men have been killed in bomb blasts. Why have you not caught the culprits at least in these cases," he said.
Satheesan also wanted to know why a single RSS worker was not arrested in the case related to the bomb blast near a public function attended by CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. "Why are you unable to arrest even those responsible for hurling a bomb at a function attended by even your party secretary," Satheesan asked the chief minister.
Earlier, in a politically provocative tone, the chief minister said that the Congress was easily purchased by the BJP. He said the BJP could capture Tripura only because it could sweep away the whole of the Congress party in that state.
Satheesan then reminded the chief minister that the Congress had recently captured a seat from the BJP in Tripura. "You were only third," Satheesan said.
And then, scaling up the provocation, Satheesan told Vijayan that it was he who sought the help of the RSS to win in 1977. "Not a single Congress MLA has ever won with the help of fundamentalist forces," Satheesan said. The chief minister is expected to respond to the opposition leader's taunt later.
