The Congress and the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala on Thursday declined the electoral support extended three days earlier by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
The Congress publicly spurned the offer of support after it came under fire from both the BJP and the Left for allegedly seeking support from the party sponsored by the proscribed PFI.
“The Congress and the UDF oppose communalism, be it by the majority or minority communities, alike. We will not accept the support of such organisations. This is our view about the support extended by SDPI to UDF also,” VD Satheesan, leader of the opposition in Kerala, said hours after the top Left and BJP leaders intensified their attacks on the Congress over the matter. Meanwhile, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan sharpened the criticism of the Left on Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad contest. He said the Congress, fearing a BJP attack, hid its own flags in order to make ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) not to display its green flags at Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad on Wednesday.