Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala will embark on a Statewide election tour from Kasaragod on Sunday.
His ‘Aishwarya Kerala Yatra’ would highlight the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) ‘entrenched corruption and criminality.” He would also highlight the dangers posed by the Hindu majoritarian politics, pro-corporate fiscal policies, and anti-minority stance of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mr. Chennithala would also offer an alternative vision for Kerala’s overall development and prosperity, focusing on welfarism.
Mr. Chennithala would use the tour of Assembly constituencies to establish a connection with communities and social organisations and array them under the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) against the ‘divisive politics’ of the LDF and BJP. He would highlight the minimum income guarantee scheme, an electoral promise of the All India Congress Committee.
Mr. Chennithala is also likely to highlight the ‘high number of political murders,’ including the killing of two Congress workers in Periya in 2018. The Congress would also make a campaign issue out of the public money spend by the LDF government to fend off CBI investigations against CPI(M) workers accused of political murders.
Yatra plans
The Yatra is speckled with corner meetings, neighbourhood tours and household level visits. Mr. Chennithala would spotlight the corruption scandals he had brought against the government.
He has accused the government of giving free rein to gold smugglers to use the heft of the Chief Minister’s Office for their illegal purposes.
The arrest of Mr. Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary, M. Sivasankar, by Customs on gold smuggling charges, the Customs’s notice to Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan’s staff, Minority Welfare Minister K.T. Jaleel’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate and summons to Life Mission officials are likely to figure at the public meetings.
Speakers
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the Yatra at Manjeswaram. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullappally Ramachandran, AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, UDF convenor M.M. Hassan, Indian Union Muslim League national general secretary P. K. Kunhalikutty, Deputy Opposition Leader M.K. Muneer and former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, G. Parameshwara are among the speakers.
