Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan denies Deve Gowda’s claim that he approved of LDF partner JD(S)’s tie up with BJP

PTI, Oct 20, 2023, 4:01 PM IST

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday rejected JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s claim that the Left leader had approved of Kerala ruling LDF partner JD(S) having an alliance with the BJP in Karnataka, and said it was both ”baseless and devoid of truth”.

In a statement issued hours after Gowda had claimed that Vijayan had greenlit the JD(S)’s alliance with the BJP in Karnataka to protect the regional party’s interests, the Chief Minister today asked the former Prime Minister to correct his statement.

In a strongly worded statement, Vijayan said the JD(S) state unit had made it clear that they were categorically against the association with the BJP and that they would stand strong with the Left Front in Kerala.

”This is not the first time Deve Gowda is joining hands with the BJP. We all remember 2006, when JD(S) joined the BJP. He left this ideology and associated with the BJP to get a ministerial post for his son,” Vijayan said.

Vijayan also attacked the Congress which has alleged that there are links between the CPI(M) and the BJP, and asked the grand old party not to ”make a fool out of themselves”.

Gowda, a former Prime Minister, had yesterday claimed that all the state units of his party, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, had given their consent for it to align with the BJP and that Vijayan had concurred with the move that would ”save” the JD(S).