Cong Weak in Several Parts of Country, BJP Needs to Be Countered State-wise: Kerala CM

The Karnataka assembly poll result is the people’s “reply” to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar that they cannot continue to do whatever they feel like in the country, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday.

At the same time, Vijayan said the Congress should also realise that it is not as strong as it was in the past and batted for a “state-wise” strategy of uniting anti-BJP forces to take on the saffron party.

“The BJP, RSS and Sangh Parivar’s stand was that they can do anything they want in the country. It is to this stand that the people of Karnataka have given a resounding reply. They have shown they will not allow them to continue like this,” Vijayan said.

In all the southern states, except Karnataka, it was non-Congress parties that were in power, the chief minister said after inaugurating a public meeting organised by the LDF as part of its second anniversary celebrations.

“We should work according to the changing scenario on the ground and the Congress needs to realise that. It needs to realise that is not the same Congress that was in power in the country for several years. It is weak in several parts of the country.

“Therefore, the practical strategy for completely defeating the BJP in the country is to unite all the groups which are against the saffron party in a state and counter the BJP state-wise,” the CPI (M) leader said at the event in Guruvayoor here.

Adopting this strategy is the only practical way to defeat the BJP completely, he said and added that care should be taken to avoid unnecessary arguments and conflicts between the allied anti-BJP groups.

In the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, the Congress won 135 of the 224 seats, while the BJP and the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)