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CPI(M) stance on secularism will help BJP: Chennithala

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA, APRIL 6. The AICC secretary and Congress nominee for the Mavelikara Lok Sabha seat in the general elections, Ramesh Chennithala, has alleged that the political stand taken by the CPI(M) in the State will ultimately weaken secularism and help the BJP.

Participating in a `Meet-the-Candidate' programme organised by the Pathanamthitta Press Club today, Mr. Chennithala said that the CPI(M) should show the moral responsibility to clarify as to which party, the BJP or the Congress, was their main rival.

Instead of taking steps to strengthen the secular fabric in the country, the CPI(M) was trying to weaken it, Mr. Chennithala alleged.

He alleged that the CPI(M) had always been exploiting the religious and casteist sentiments of the people in the elections and its candidate selection in Alappuzha was a testimony to this.

Mr. Chennithala said that the Congress winning maximum number of Lok Sabha seats was the need of the hour in order to form a secular Government at the Centre. The vote for the CPI(M) would only help the BJP, he said.

He alleged that the BJP was a big threat to secularism and it had been highly partisan to different religions and to different States.

Mr. Chennithala claimed that the entry of Rahul Gandhi into politics had given a fresh life to the party.

Pampa Action Plan

Asked about the Opposition criticism that the much-publicised Pampa Action Plan (PAP) and the "delay" in its implementaion, Mr. Chennithala said that the Centre had sanctioned Rs. 11 crores for the first phase of the PAP.

He said that implementation of the action plan had been delayed despite the fact that the State Government too had made a budgetary allocation of Rs. 5.5 crores for implementing it.

"I have successfully tried to include the PAP in the National River Conservation Programme. But its execution should be made by the State Government and I will continue to work for the speedy implementation of the PAP,'' Mr Chennithala said.

Reacting to the criticism of the BJP nominee and former Union Minister, S. Krishnakumar, that the local MP had failed to facilitate 70 acres of land for the proposed BSF battalion headquarters in Mavelikara, Mr. Chennithala said that it was he who had initiated the project. He would continue his efforts to facilitate land for it at the earliest, he said.

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