Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has accused Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala of adopting a stance helpful to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Briefing reporters on the deliberations at the CPI(M) State committee here on Sunday, Mr. Balakrishnan said that Mr. Chennithala’s personal security officer was a district office-bearer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Mr. Chennithala chose the officer ignoring officers who were loyal to the Congress, he said.
Regarding the row over CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai’s revelation that he had attended the RSS camps when he was a teenager, Mr. Balakrishnan clarified that members of various parties, including the Congress and the BJP, had joined the CPI(M), but the party did not permit dual membership for its cadre.
The Congress, he said, had a soft Hindutva stance on the demolition of the Babri Masjid and said that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was duping the people on the issue.
‘Not against temple’
The CPI(M) was not against the Ram temple, but it was being built on a site where a Masjid stood. The secular forces had turned apprehensive. The Congress had not taken any initiative to oppose the BJP or come out in aid of the secular forces, he said.
