THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: LDF convener EP Jayarajan told the media that neither the Left Front nor the CPM hunted former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Who hunted whom here? No hunt was greater than the one who came to shoot me dead. Didn't the scientists get hurt? Didn't the government have to pay compensation to them? Didn't they bring two women from Mali and hunt them down? Everyone should think about this.

Neither the Left Front nor CPM has hunted anyone, whether for political reasons or not. The party and the Front take a position by looking at the issues and not the individual. It is a principled position. Then many people might have felt targeted. They should use such opportunities to correct their mistakes.

CPM is a party that insists on not using unnecessary words against anyone. Many would have said a lot of things in the assembly. Some may have crossed the line when speaking rhetorically. This applies to Congress also.

Isn't the Chief Minister and his family being hounded now with such heinous words? Isn't a woman being hunted just because she is the chief minister's wife? Do you want us all just to be watching when the Chief Minister is being hunted? The Left Front will defend all attacks against the Chief Minister. No one will be allowed to hunt the Chief Minister. He is not a drum lying on the road.

People will judge the slogans raised when the Chief Minister stood up to deliver the speech. We are proud that the Chief Minister participated in that commemoration. The sad thing is that everyone in the Congress has lost that political culture. Isn't it the culture of Kerala that everyone stands together in situations like death? If anyone has a different view on that, it is immature politics and a degradation of the ideology they believe in.

Election is not personal

Responding to arguments that the Left Front should not contest in Puthupally, Jayarajan said that the election is not a contest between individuals. Have they not competed against EMS, a great talent who has filled the national and international arenas and Kerala politics? Didn't they contest against EK Nayanar who had huge popular support? Election is a battle of political policies. Elections are feared by those with weak politics. In a democracy, elections are the platform for the propagation of ideas. The Left government, which has been in power for more than seven years, has been implementing welfare schemes. That is why many people, including those from other parties, become part of the front. Those who do not want any injustices including atrocities in Manipur to be discussed are the ones arguing that there should be no elections.