Setback in Kerala local body election: LDF will make course Correction, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Sabarimala issue could have been one of the reasons for the LDFs poor performance in the local body elections. Addressing media after cabinet, he said LDF will look into the fronts performance and make necessary corrections. However, he refused to give undue importance to Sabarimala in the election outcome, pointing to the result in Pandalam municipality, which the LDF wrested back from the BJP. Pinarayi alleged a nexus between the BJP and UDF in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation for temporary gains. Despite the nexus, and the BJPs communal campaign, the LDF garnered most number of votes. In 12 seats, LDF lost by a margin of less than 60 votes, he said, adding in many wards where the BJP won, UDF vote share has come down. The poll results show that only the Left is able to effectively resist the BJP. CM questions how Potti got Sonia Gandhis appointment Pinarayi asserted the those guilty in the Sabarimala gold theft case should be punished. Claiming that the LDF has never looked at this issue through the prism of party politics, he criticised the Congress for attempting to politicise the gold theft case. Selective photographs are being circulated to create a false narrative. It is being alleged that Unnikrishnan Potti, an accused in the theft, was present near me during the inauguration of an ambulance for Sabarimala at the Secretariat. Such propaganda is clearly aimed at dragging my name into the controversy, he said. However, emerging evidence suggests several individuals connected to the theft have close ties with the Congress, he said. Photographs have surfaced showing Potti, now under arrest, and Govardhan, a Ballari-based businessman accused of purchasing the stolen gold, standing with Sonia Gandhi. In one image, Sonia Gandhi is seen accepting a gift from Govardhan; in another, Potti is tying something on her wrist, in the presence of Congress MPs Anto Antony and Adoor Prakash. Sonia Gandhi is among the most heavily protected leaders in the country. How did the accused in a gold theft case gain entry to meet her, an appointment that even senior Congress leaders struggle to secure? What relationship does Anto Antony and Adoor Prakash share with Potti and Govardhan? he asked. He also wondered how Potti and Govardhan were able to participate in several key ceremonies at Sabarimala during the UDF regime. Given these facts, on what grounds does the Congress attempt to malign the LDF? The people of Kerala deserve a clear and honest explanation from the Congress, he said. CM justifies car travel with Vellappally TPuram: Refuting charges that SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan travelling with him played a key role in the LDF debacle in the local body polls, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday justified the former travelling with him in his official vehicle. He came to meet me when I was about to attend the programme in Pampa. Since both of us were heading to the same destination, he too entered my vehicle. I too decided to travel with him, the chief minister said in a press meet here. Case against Pottiye Kettiye song not govts stand, says chief minister About the gold theft case, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the case taken against the viral Pottiye Kettiye song is not part of the governments stand on the same. If a complaint is handed over, we might have to take it up as a case, but later, it is the governments policy that gets implemented. The case will go its way. We have seen many such songs and have a clear stand on such situations, he said.
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