“What does he know about Wayanad?” asked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as he lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President, Amit Shah, who had earlier equated Wayanad to Pakistan. The Kerala CM was addressing an election campaign for PP Suneer, who is the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Wayanad constituency for the Lok Sabha elections.
By stating that Amit Shah has insulted Wayanad, Pinarayi Vijayan goes on to say that those who know the history of Wayanad and its contribution to the Indian freedom movement will never equate it to Pakistan.
“Does he (Amit Shah) have any understanding or idea about Wayanad’s struggle against the British empire. We all know how Pazhassi Raja and the tribal warriors of Wayanad fought against the British. People who never took part in freedom struggle will never realise this fact,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, was one of the kings from Malabar who opposed the British and lead a revolt against them.
The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala has been grabbing eyeballs off late after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi decided to contest from the Wayanad seat, as the candidate of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
BJP president, Amit Shah, in an attack on Rahul Gandhi had said that the latter is going to contest from a place, which one cannot make out whether it is India or Pakistan. This was a reference to the number of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) flags that were present during Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad after he filed his nomination paper on April 4. Though it has been pointed out multiple times that the flags were of the IUML, BJP has been constantly saying that those were Pakistani or Islamic flags.
Amit Shah was addressing a rally in Nagpur, where he made the particular statement. “For the sake of his alliance, Rahul has gone to a seat in Kerala where when a procession is held, you cannot make out whether the procession is in India or Pakistan,” said the BJP president.
Amit Shah is not the only BJP leader to have made such remarks regarding the presence of IUML flags during Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow. Recently, Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath said in a tweet had stated that the “Muslim league is a virus. It is a virus that once you are infected with it, you cannot be saved and today, the main opposition party has been infected with it. Think about it, what will happen if they win? This virus will spread throughout the country.”