CM Pinarayi Vijayan Says 30% BJP Leaders Are Ex-Congress, Hits Back at Rahul Gandhi

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that about 30 per cent of the leaders in the ranks of the BJP are former Congress stalwarts. Reacting during a press conference, he added that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks should not be taken at face value.

He pointed out that an expert committee had studied the 2018 floods and that, on the basis of those findings, it had been established that the deluge was not man‑made. “Do you even know how much rain fell at that time?” he asked, questioning the basis of the earlier allegations raised by Congress leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan.

He stressed that whether it is a party or an alliance, leadership is always collective and decisions are taken after joint consultation. “As the person leading the government, my image may sometimes appear in the LDF’s campaign, but that does not need any other interpretation,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that the Opposition would become intolerant if the media kept asking it only about issues that annoyed them. He made this remark when journalists quoted reports that the Opposition had reacted angrily to questions related to Wayanad fund.

Chief Minister noted that the last Congress‑led UDF government in Kerala, which Rahul Gandhi’s party had led until 2016, had also failed to speak out when the Centre adopted a confrontational approach towards the State. “When the Congress party was asked to join our protest against the Centre, tehy refused," he sais. He also added that tehy were protesting not for a party it was for the whole state.

He accused Rahul Gandhi’s party of weakening the nationwide trade‑union agitation against the BJP’s anti-labour policies. “Those who keep shouting about ‘deals, deals’ should look at the BJP’s top leadership: about 30 per cent of them are former Congress leaders,” Pinarayi Vijayan said, turning the focus back on the BJP–Congress overlap.

He dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s statements as baseless and claimed that such remarks, in effect, helped the BJP. “Can anyone show that the LDF has done anything from our side to help the BJP?” he asked. Referring to former Rajya Sabha MP Venugopal, he said that the move to resign from the Upper House had actually created an opportunity for the BJP.

Responding to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, the Kerala CM targeted him in harsh language during the same press conference. When asked about Revanth Reddy’s invitation letter asking him to enter into a debate, Vijayan said: “Dash mone Revanth” responses will follow.

He added that a detailed response was already being prepared for Revanth Reddy, but for now he would limit himself to these remarks. Earlier, Revanth Reddy had released a public letter to the Kerala Chief Minister, in which he repeated the phrase “Nee po mone Vijayan,” to which Pinarayi Vijayan’s retort was his latest statement.