Arvind Kejriwal’s situation a life lesson for Congress, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala chief minister pinarayi vijayan criticizes Congress for not supporting Arvind Kejriwal, emphasizes on prioritizing nation's interest over politics.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called upon the Indian National Congress to take in a lesson from the situation being faced by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

While maintaining that the rally of the INDIA bloc in Delhi on March 31 was “a huge success and a strong warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government” at the Centre, Mr. Vijayan said the attitude of the Congress towards the BJP’s deliberate attacks on non-congress Opposition party leaders was not right.

“The Congress was the first to file a police complaint against the alleged liquor licence corruption in the Delhi government. The Enforcement Directorate [ED] capitalised on it. When Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested, the Congress asked why Kejriwal was not arrested,” Mr. Vijayan told reporters in Kozhikode on April 1 (Monday).

He recalled Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent comment that several Congress leaders were threatened with jail terms to lure them into the BJP.

“You will have to face several adversities in politics. Giving up politics is not the solution. You should fight against the adversities. The Congress leaders’ forced migration to the BJP cannot be justified,” he said, adding that Mr. Kejriwal’s experience was “a huge life lesson” for the Congress which should learn to “prioritise the nation’s interest” while making decisions.

Criticising the BJP government for “diluting the Constitutional values and secular values” of the country over its 10 years in power and trying to implement the “RSS’s displeasure over the idea of secularism”, Mr. Vijayan said secularism can be protected only by opposing communalism.

Pointing out the pitfalls in the implementation of the National Citizenship Register (NCR) in Assam, he criticised Rahul Gandhi for not mentioning the issue in his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. “The NCR was targeted at the Muslims. But it affected all, because not even people in educated Kerala have the birth details of their fathers and grandfathers recorded”, he said.