In a strong criticism of the Congress, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the grand old party’s “greed and lust for power” were the reasons for its defeat in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh assembly elections.
Vijayan said that the Congress thought it was competent to win against the BJP on its own and therefore, did not join forces with the other INDIA alliance parties in these states to present a united front against the saffron party.
Vijayan was responding to queries on what led to the resounding poll defeat of Congress in the three states, two of which—Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh—were ruled by the grand old party. He said that in Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Kamal Nath’s stand against joining forces with Samajwadi Party (SP), which had influence in some areas of that state, led to the defeat of the grand old party there.
In Rajasthan too, the same thing happened with the Congress declining to work together with other secular parties, including the CPI(M), there, he claimed.
The Congress going at it alone in Chhattisgarh was also the reason for its loss there, he claimed.
Vijayan also said that Nath, during the poll campaign, made some allegedly non-secular statements which also contributed to the Congress’ loss in Madhya Pradesh. The Kerala CM had on Sunday also said that the poll outcome in the three Hindi heartland states was the result of the Congress going at it alone.
