Pinarayi denies Gowda claim that he okayed JD(S)-BJP pact

Thiruvananthapuram: J D(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s claim that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan supported his party’s alliance with the BJP in Karnataka has sparked political controversy in Kerala.

Vijayan, also a veteran CPI(M) leader, on Friday categorically denied Gowda’s statement, while the Congress party used this opportunity to allege that the BJP and the Left party in Kerala have an understanding.

Gowda had said on Thursday in Bengaluru that Vijayan had granted full approval for the JD(S)’ alliance with the BJP in Karnataka to protect the party’s interests.

Responding to the claim, Vijayan on Friday dismissed it as “both baseless and devoid of truth”.

In a statement issued hours after Gowda had claimed that Vijayan had greenlit his party’s alliance with the BJP in Karnataka, the Chief Minister today asked the former Prime Minister to correct his statement.

In a strongly worded statement, Vijayan said the JD(S) state unit had made it clear that it was categorically against the association with the BJP and that it would stand strong with the Left Front.

“This is not the first time Deve Gowda is joining hands with the BJP. We all remember 2006, when JD(S) joined the BJP. He left this ideology and associated with the BJP to get a ministerial post for his son,” Vijayan said.

Vijayan also attacked the Congress which has alleged that the CPI(M) has links with the BJP, and asked the grand old party “not to make a fool out of themselves”.

After a political row erupted in Kerala over the statement by the JD(S) supremo, the opposition Congress alleged that the JD(S) national leader’s revelation has established the undercurrent between the ruling CPI(M) and the BJP in Kerala.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan made the allegation. Gowda, a former Prime Minister, had yesterday claimed that all the state units of his party, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, had given their consent for it to align with the BJP and that Vijayan had concurred with the move that would “save” the JD(S).

Satheesan today alleged that the links between Vijayan, the Left party and the BJP have now come out in the open.

“We had earlier raised this allegation. A party which is part of NDA is also part of the state cabinet of the Left government in Kerala led by Pinarayi Vijayan. Now that Deve Gowda has made a revelation, it’s become clear that it is BJP that has linked the two parties,” Satheesan alleged.

Meanwhile, KPCC president K Sudhakaran on Friday alleged that the statement of Gowda gives a clear picture of Pinarayi Vijayan falling at the feet of the BJP to save him from various cases.

“The chief minister should reveal the details behind this statement. If the statement made by the former prime minister is false, then a case should be registered against him,” Sudhakaran said in a statement.

Opposing the association of the Janata Dal(S)’s top leadership with the BJP, the Karnataka-based party’s state president Mathew T Thomas today said Gowda’s claim was baseless, adding that it might be a “misunderstanding due to his age”. (PTI)