League, Welfare Party can never walk together: K M Shaji
KOZHIKODE: Muslim League state secretary K M Shaji has clarified the partys ideological differences with Jamaat-e-Islami, asserting that the two organisations can never walk together. Speaking to mediapersons in Kozhikode, Shaji stressed that the disagreement between the Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami is global and ideological, not something limited to Keralas political landscape. Shaji dismissed political speculation about electoral cooperation with the Welfare Party, associated to Jamaat-e-Islami. The Welfare Party issue has never been discussed even at the district level. There will be no such understanding for the Assembly elections either, he stated. Sharply criticising Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Shaji said the repeated accusations linking the Muslim League to the Welfare Party were a result of the CMs political complex. He alleged that the chief ministers electoral strategy, especially in earlier phases of campaigning, was designed to target majority votes. That strategy collapsed after the Sabarimala gold theft case. Now, he has come to Malabar looking for ways to engineer a polarisation in Muslim votes, Shaji said. Shaji further emphasised that the Welfare Party has never been an ally of the UDF. However, he pointed out that there is strong anti-Left sentiment among sections of voters in the current election. The UDF will not reject or restrict votes cast as part of this anti-Left sentiment, he clarified. Shaji said that the Muslim Leagues differences with Jamaat-e-Islami stem from international issues, not merely local electoral concerns. Just because they vote for us in an election, we will not praise them the way Pinarayi Vijayan does. We are not here to whitewash their ideology, he said.
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