CM and CPM trying to tarnish image of party, BJP takes to streets to protest against vendetta politics

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after a delegation of top BJP leaders, met Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to complain that the Pinarayi Vijayan government is out to tarnish the party's image and harass its leaders out of political vendetta, the party is organising protests in the streets across the state at 10,000 locations today.

The BJP leaders claim that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is using the police to use the ongoing investigation in the Kodakara hawala money case to target the BJP leaders and their families, by propagating false baseless reports using the media.

Incidentally, the case pertains to unearthing of large sums of money just before the April 6 assembly polls and then came the revelations of a lady office bearer of the ally of the BJP led NDA, that a portion of the money was given to tribal leader C K Janu who leads her party, which is an ally of the NDA in Kerala.

Then came another revelation that K Sundara, a BSP candidate in Manjeswaram constituency that he was paid money by the local BJP leaders to withdraw his candidature in favour of Surendran, as both of them have similar names.

The protests will be held according to Covid protocols and all our top leaders will come live online when they address the protesters who will be on the streets across 10,000 places in the state," said a top BJP leader.

There were media reports that not only will Surendran be questioned, but also his son.

During the polls, Surendran had said that the BJP will win 35 seats and will go on to form the government in Kerala, but when votes were counted, the BJP lost its only seat that it won in 2016.

The BJP in Kerala is a divided house and following the defeat and a downward slide in its vote share, Surendran is fighting hard in the party to keep his position and it's at this time the Pinarayi government is trying to get even with the BJP, after the last year saw him coming under heavy duress from various national agencies probing the gold smuggling and dollar scam cases.