‘Shameless attempt to woo Muslim votes’: Rajeev Chandrasekhar hits back at Kerala chief minister’s pre-poll ‘BJP team B’ comments

New Delhi: Kerala BJP president Rajiv Chandrasekhar on Sunday hit back at the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan Equating the BJP with the Congress, he called it a “shameless attempt” to woo Muslim voters ahead of the state assembly polls.Chandrasekhar accused the MCP of misleading voters by creating competition in Kerala while forging alliances in other states.“Don’t you think it’s an amazing comedy that the Congress accuses the BJP of being the B-team of the CPM, and the CPM accuses the BJP of being the B-team of the Congress? When they form formal alliances in other states, it’s like saying the people of Kerala are fools for believing this nonsense,” Chandrasekhar, a BJP candidate from Inner Mongolia, told ANI.

“Just across the border, they are campaigning together in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and they have the audacity to mislead the people of Kerala and say they are not aligned with each other,” he added.The BJP leader alleged that both parties were trying to consolidate minority votes by opposing the BJP.“This is a shameless attempt with only one objective, both the Congress and the CPM are desperate to get the votes of the Muslim community. The only way they can get the votes of the Muslim community is by pretending that they are opponents of the BJP,” he said.He also cited the Telangana elections, claiming that similar tactics were used against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.“Congress has succeeded in doing this in Telangana. They have created a controversy saying BRS is the B-team of the BJP. Sadly, Muslim voters abandoned BRS and switched to Congress. But the people of Kerala will not be fooled by you. They have witnessed 70 years of corruption, neglect and appeasement and have said enough,” said Chandrasekhar.

Vijayan’s speech to BJP and Congress

Vijayan, in an interview with ANI, had criticized the BJP and the Congress for holding similar positions on key issues, triggering a furious reaction.“On these issues, the positions of the Congress and the BJP are aligned. That is why when the BJP came to power, it started implementing Congress policies more strongly,” Vijayan said, referring to the Centre’s attitude towards West Asia.He also expressed confidence that the BJP would not win any seats in the upcoming elections.“I am convinced that the BJP will not get even a single seat in this assembly election,” the chief minister said.Chandrasekhar refuted Vijayan’s claims, saying the outcome would be decided by voters and not political opponents.“The tragedy is that he (Vijayan) is not the decider. The voters will decide. He said we will not get Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, but we got it,” he said.He added that the BJP was “the largest party in the world” and an emerging force in Kerala politics, while accusing the Communist Party of India and the Congress of being “scared to death” of the party.Kerala will go to single-phase polls on April 9 and counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.