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Kerala CM Pinarayi tears into UDFs unholy pact with Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of local body polls

KOCHI: With just three days left for the first phase of the local body elections , Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a blistering attack on the Congress-led UDF, accusing it of striking an unholy alliance with Jamaat-e-Islamis Welfare Party of India . Speaking at a Meet-the-Press organised by the Ernakulam Press Club, the CM said the Congress was risking Keralas peace and harmony for a handful of votes. Pinarayi alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami, which he described as a group that does not recognise the Sunni and Mujahid streams followed by the majority of Keralas Muslims, is fundamentally rooted in the ideology of establishing an Islamic state as envisioned by its founder, Maududi. Just as Hindutva works towards a Hindu nation, Jamaat-e-Islami dreams of an Islamic nation. Political Islam and Hindutva are birds of the same feather, he said. He criticised the Congress for aligning with a group whose ideology, he claimed, is rejected by the vast majority of Muslim voters who traditionally back the UDF. Even many Congress supporters are opposing this tie-up, he said, adding that the Welfare Partys formation in 2011 was the culmination of Jamaat-e-Islamis political ambitions. Pinarayi also targeted the Indian Union Muslim League, saying the party leadership had ignored strong internal objections to the alliance. Despite resistance from within its own ranks, the IUML is supporting this nexus, the CM said. Calling the CPM a common foe of both majority and minority communal forces, Pinarayi accused the UDF of failing to heed warnings from within its own coalition. For a few votes, they are compromising Keralas long-standing secular fabric, he said, framing the alliance as a direct threat to the states social harmony. UDF has tie-ups with Jamaat-e-Islami, RSS and BJP, alleges CPM Ernakulam district secretary