New Delhi | CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks at the INDIA bloc meeting on Kerala politics and said the LoP has been urged only to stop being the "facilitator for ED and Modi government".
In a post on X, Baby responded to Gandhi's remarks at the INDIA bloc meeting earlier this week and wrote: "Nobody is asking Rahul Gandhi to hug Pinarayi Vijayan."
"On the contrary all that we are asking is that he stop being a facilitator for the ED and the Modi government by demanding the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan and other opposition leaders. That is not the job of the leader of the opposition," he said.
Baby's remarks came a day after Gandhi released his comments made at the INDIA bloc meeting that took place on June 8.
Gandhi said, "We have our fights, but if you're asking me to go and hug the ex-chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and I will not because I have an ongoing political fight with him."
He was reacting to the CPI(M)'s objection to the remarks made by him and other top Congress leaders during Kerala assembly polls campaign, targeting the then-ruling Left party in the state.
"So we have to be flexible and we have to realize that there is a full-scale assault on us trying to prove that the opposition is weak, is disorganised," Gandhi further said.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, during the INDIA bloc meeting, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas had raised concerns over allegations made during the campaign, including claims of a tacit understanding between the Left and the BJP.
Ahead of the meeting, Baby wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and objected to the allegations, describing them as inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation within the opposition alliance.
At the meeting, Brittas said that while the CPI(M) could politically contest charges made by Congress leaders, it was different when such remarks came from Gandhi, one of the principal faces of the alliance.
He argued that the alliance had come together to fight the BJP and questioned the purpose of partners sitting together if one constituent publicly accused another of helping the ruling party.