New Delhi: Fresh strains have surfaced within the INDIA bloc after Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s reported comment on CPM leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan triggered a political row between the Congress and the Left.
According to the report, the controversy stems from an audio clip from an INDIA bloc meeting held on June 8. In the clip, Rahul Gandhi is heard saying that he would not hug Vijayan as the Congress continues to have a political fight with him in Kerala. He said that there were political differences between the two sides and that he could neither do so nor would he do so while the political contest remained active.
The remark has sharpened the debate over the opposition alliance’s internal contradictions. While the Congress and CPM are part of the INDIA bloc at the national level and have joined hands against the BJP, they remain fierce political rivals in Kerala. The two parties have fought each other for decades in the state, where the Congress recently removed the Pinarayi Vijayan led government from power.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s comment, Pinarayi Vijayan said there was no tradition of hugging between him and the Congress leader. He said their meetings were usually limited to formal greetings or handshakes. Vijayan, however, said his objection was not about a hug but about the political message conveyed by Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
Senior CPM leaders also criticised the Congress leader. CPM general secretary and former MP M A Baby said nobody had asked Rahul Gandhi to hug Vijayan, but he should stop demanding his arrest. CPM MP John Brittas said the matter was not about a hug but about the politics and credibility of the INDIA bloc.
CPM leader Brinda Karat also hit out at Rahul Gandhi, saying communists did not need the politics of hugging and wanted clear political thinking. She said Rahul Gandhi should keep his politics of hugging to himself, but as Leader of Opposition, he must show respect towards opposition leaders like Pinarayi Vijayan.
The BJP also targeted the opposition alliance over the controversy. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the INDIA bloc was an alliance of convenience and existed only on paper, not on the ground.
The episode has once again highlighted the difficulty of maintaining opposition unity when regional rivalries continue to influence national politics.