Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Thursday slammed the ruling CPM for its criticism of the ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and sought to know why the Left leaders were getting annoyed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fascist ideologies were being questioned.
Attacking the Marxist party, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan asked why they were finding fault with Rahul Gandhi and other leaders, the participants of the foot march, staying in containers.
Even the family members of CPM leaders were coming to greet the participants of the march and wondered whether that was upsetting the Left leadership, he told a press meet here.
'Bharat Jodo Yatra', envisaged to unite the country, was drawing immense response from democratic believers and the public and it would soon become an iconic success, he noted.
"The Yatra is being taken out not against the CPM. It is based on the idea of uniting India. Fascism and communism are being criticised. Why are the CPM leaders getting annoyed when Modi and fascist and communist ideologies are criticised?" Satheesan asked.
Neither Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan nor the CPM is on the agenda of the march, he said while addressing a press meet here.
Responding to the criticism that the Yatra is scheduled to cover more days in Left-ruled Kerala than the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, the LoP said it is the Congress which decides its route map not the AKG Centre, the headquarters of the CPM here.
Satheesan also criticised the upcoming foreign trips of Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues, alleging that they could bring no major investment for the state through their previous tours.
Rejecting the reports that the government had brought development worth Rs 300 crores through the ministers' foreign trips, he said only the selling of the masala bond could be achieved through it and the amount could be raised only because of the government guarantee.
"Apart from that, no development has been brought to the state through foreign trips. The opposition is not against the ministers and officials taking out trips abroad. But when they go abroad 80 times at the expense of the government, it is the responsibility of the CM and the ministers to convince people how the state had benefited through such trips," he further said.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which entered Kerala on September 10 evening, would traverse through the state covering 450 km, touching seven districts over a period of 19 days before entering Karnataka on October 1. The yatra will enter Alappuzha on September 17 and pass through Ernakulam district on September 21 and 22 and reach Thrissur on September 23. The foot march will traverse through Palakkad on September 26 and 27 and enter Malappuram on September 28.
