Thiruvananthapuram | AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Sunday hit back at the CPI(M) over its criticism of Rahul Gandhi, alleging that the Left party was blaming the Congress leader for its own political decline and electoral setbacks.

In a Facebook post, Venugopal said the Marxist party's attacks on Gandhi reflected its "political insecurity" and inability to objectively assess the reasons behind its recent defeats.

"Instead of analysing the reasons for its dismal electoral performance in Kerala, the CPI(M) is trying to target Rahul Gandhi. If it continues on this path, even bigger defeats await the party," Venugopal alleged.

Drawing a comparison, he said blaming Rahul Gandhi for the CPI(M)'s problems was akin to "breaking a mirror because one's face looks bad".

The Congress leader further claimed that outside Kerala, the CPI(M) survives in Parliament largely with the support of the Congress and its allies and, therefore, its criticism of Gandhi was ironic.

He also accused the CPI(M) of "conveniently forgetting" that some of its leaders had won elections outside Kerala with the support of the Congress-led alliance.

Venugopal said the INDIA bloc was formed under the Congress initiative to protect democracy and the Constitution from what he termed the "BJP's authoritarian tendencies" and to defeat the saffron party politically.

According to him, while Congress pursues a broader national political agenda, the CPI(M) is guided by narrow regional considerations.

He alleged that such a limited political outlook had contributed to the decline of the communist movement in states such as West Bengal.

The Congress leader also defended Gandhi, saying he has been at the forefront of the opposition's fight against the BJP and has himself been a victim of political targeting.

Venugopal's remarks came a day after senior CPI(M) leaders, including former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party general secretary M A Baby, criticised Gandhi.

Vijayan had alleged that Gandhi's political approach does not strengthen the INDIA alliance and often ends up helping the BJP.

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Responding to a question regarding Gandhi's reported remarks at an INDIA bloc meeting that he would not hug Vijayan because of their political rivalry in Kerala, the former chief minister had said he was not concerned about who hugs whom.

"But we all saw the photograph of Rahul Gandhi hugging Narendra Modi. My objection is not to the act of hugging Modi itself. Rather, his remarks represent a particular political message. It reflects Rahul Gandhi's approach and how he views the INDIA alliance," Vijayan ha