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Congress denies any secret election deal with BJP in Kerala

By TCN News,

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leadership in Kerala denied having any secret election deal with the BJP in the state. The news reports in certain media that the party had secret deals with the BJP were baseless, said KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala. He added that it was unthinkable for the party to make any such deal with its main opponent in the national level. Mr Chennithala also accused the CPI (M) of trying for a deal with the BJP.

There were reports in certain media last day that the Congress was trying to have secret deals with the BJP in the Assembly elections. The report said that the BJP would vote for some Congress candidates including the KPCC president while a group in the Congress should vote for the BJP in a few constituencies including Nemam in Thiruvananthapuram. Senior BJP leader and former Minister of State for Railways Mr O Rajagopal is contesting from the Nemam constituency. There was reportedly such a deal between the Congress and the BJP way back in 1991.

Another report suggested that the CPI (M) was trying to make a deal with the ‘Hindu Parliament’, a group led by the Tantris of Guruvayur and Sabarimala temples. The group is supposedly sponsored by the Sangh Parivar and supported by the SNDP (Sree Narayana Sharma Paripalana Yogam). Instead of a direct deal with the group, the CPI (M) is trying to make a deal with the SNDP. The SNDP general secretary Vellappalli Nadesan is the chairman of the Parliament, which has the representation of most of the major Hindu organizations but for the strong Nair Service Society, according to reports.

During every election, both the LDF and the UDF use to blame each other of being helped by the BJP. Even though the RSS has many units in Kerala, the BJP has never been able to open its account in the Kerala Assembly. The state BJP is weak and factionalism weakens it further. The party has always been accused of ‘selling votes’. However, it could gain some seats in the recently held Panchayat elections. And this year the party is hoping to open its account in the Assembly and senior leader Sushma Swaraj is in charge of the Kerala election campaign.