Rahul: Why hasn’t the Kerala CM been targeted?
Despite accusations of corruption and other offenses, Congressman Rahul Gandhi stated on Thursday that while the BJP and federal officials had been pursuing him, they had never had any contact with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Speaking at a United Democratic Front (UDF)-sponsored election rally in Kerala’s Kannur district, Rahul related his personal encounters with various forms of retaliation for opposing the BJP, including media harassment, losing his Lok Sabha membership, being subjected to 55 hours of ED interrogation, and being kicked out of his official residence.
He brought up the CMs’ incarceration in Jharkhand and Delhi and compared it to Vijayan’s seeming impunity. Despite belonging to the INDIA bloc—the anti-BJP coalition assembled by opposition parties—Rahul and CPI candidate Annie Raja are facing off in the Wayanad election.
If Rahul Gandhi’s primary goal is to defeat the BJP, according to Vijayan, he should run from a seat where the party is seen as a force rather than Wayanad, where the party has very little support. In addition to Wayanad, the Congress-led UDF and the CPM-led LDF are engaged in conflict in Kerala’s 19 remaining Lok Sabha seats.
