Rahul Gandhi: 'nothing left in Left, detached from people'; slams Vijayan, Modi in Kerala rally
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Alappuzha: As Kerala's election campaigning hits its final lap, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi unleashed a blistering attack on the CPI(M)-led LDF, declaring it ideologically hollow and accusing it of a secret pact with the BJP.
Speaking alongside former Left heavyweight G. Sudhakaran at a rally here, Gandhi highlighted Sudhakaran's switch—once a four-time CPI(M) MLA and two-time minister—as proof of the Left's collapse. "He has not come here out of opportunism. Something fundamental has changed in the Left. Today, frankly, there is nothing left in the Left Democratic Front," Gandhi said, pointing to rising disillusionment among its ranks.
Sudhakaran, expelled from CPI(M) after filing as an independent from Ambalapuzha, received UDF backing soon after.
Gandhi alleged a "hidden communal hand" steering the Left toward BJP-RSS alignment for survival, leaving loyal workers feeling betrayed. He directly targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for growing arrogant and disconnected from the masses. "When leaders begin to believe power belongs to them and not the people, that is when the disconnect begins," he said, blaming long tenures for breeding confusion.
Questioning Modi's silence on Kerala woes like drug abuse, farm distress, unemployment, and neglect of coir and paddy sectors, Gandhi claimed the BJP views Congress-UDF as its real foe, not the Left.
He also decried nationwide attacks on minorities, hinting at ideological overlap between such forces and Kerala's rulers.
Gandhi pitched UDF pledges: free bus rides for women, Rs 1,000 monthly aid for college girls, Rs 3,000 social pensions, and Rs 25 lakh family health coverage.
(Inputs from IANS)
