15 hours ago
CM distorted history: Venugopal
SLUG-India's Israel policy
Kozhikode: AICC general secretary KC Venugopal accused chief minister
Pinarayi Vijayan
of twisting history by targeting the
Congress party
in his remarks on Israel during the LDF's Nilambur bypoll campaign.
"The Congress party has always stood firmly and consistently for the liberation and rights of the Palestinian people since the time of Mahatma Gandhi.
This position is not about winning votes or political gains," said Venugopal.
He pointed out that the Congress' solidarity with Palestine has been unwavering throughout successive governments led by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and others. Every AICC session had passed resolutions expressing the party's support for Palestine, he said.
Pinarayi Vijayan had recently criticized previous Congress-led govts at the Centre for moving away from India's long-standing policy of keeping distance from Israel.
"Most recently, following the current crisis, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi were among the first to take a strong stand against these developments. Six months ago, in protest against the massacre in Gaza, Priyanka symbolically brought a bag with the Palestinian emblem into Parliament- a move that triggered protests from Sangh Parivar.
Not a single communist leader came forward to support her.
But now, just two days before the elections, they've decided to bring this up," he said.
Venugopal also recalled that it was Vijayan himself who met with the Israeli consul general in December 2022 and spoke about strengthening trade ties between Kerala and Israel, remarking then that such relations should be viewed positively. "What the chief minister is doing now is sheer opportunism. He is trying to use the issue to influence (bypoll)," alleged Venugopal.
