Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Saturday slammed both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- CPI(M) – and the Congress, saying they are 'ideologically confused' as they were fighting each other in Kerala, but have joined hands to take on the BJP 'tooth and nail' in West Bengal.
"It's interesting to note that at this point of time, election is going on in West Bengal. How ideologically confused both the parties have become. Here the Congress and the CPI(M) are fighting each other. In West Bengal, the CPI(M) and the Congress are fighting the BJP tooth and nail," Nadda said at a road show in Chakarakkal for the party candidate in Kerala CK Padmanabhan, on a day when the first phase of assembly elections got underway in West Bengal.
Chakarakkal forms part of Dharmadam constituency from where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is seeking re-election. Padmanabhan is the NDA’s candidate from Dharmadam.
Referring to the Sabarimala women's entry issue, Nadda said the ruling CPI(M) and the Chief Minister had "tried to crush" the agitation, while the Congress paid only "lip service" over the years.
The state had witnessed violent protests led by right wing outfits after the state government decided to implement the Supreme Court order of 2018, allowing entry to women of all ages into the hilltop shrine.
As per temple tradition, women in the 10-50 age group are barred from trekking to the shrine of Lord Ayyappa, a celibate.
"Only the BJP has been consistent on Sabarimala. The party state president K Surendran and CK Padmanabhan have for long been fighting hard for the Sabarimala issue,” Nadda said.
The BJP chief also took a swipe at Pinarayi Vijayan on the gold smuggling case, alleging that the Chief Minister's office was involved in it. "The Chief Minister's office is involved in the gold scam. The investigation is going on. He (Pinarayi) asked for the probe by the central agencies. When the investigation reached his office, they are saying the union government is attacking the state government," he said.
Three central agencies --Enforcement Directorate, Customs and National Investigation Agency -- are probing the case, in which 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was seized from a diplomatic baggage at Thiruvananthapuram International airport in July 2020.