CPI(M) rubbishes Advani's call to end 'political untouchability'

THIRUVANATHPURAM: Rubbishing BJP veteran L K Advani's call to end "political untouchability", CPI(M)'s Kerala unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan today said his party would not dilute its stiff opposition to them as they posed a grim danger to the country's secular polity.

"Our position is unambiguous. We have always taken a firm stand against the BJP and we would continue that without making any compromise," Vijayan, also a party politburo member, told a press meet here.

The CPI(M) leader was reacting to Advani's speech here yesterday in which he said unlike the Communists, his party did not believe in "political untouchability." The BJP veteran's statement was seen by political circles in Kerala as a move to cosy up with the Left, especially in Kerala.

Interestingly, RSS's official organ in Malayalam recently published an article calling to search for areas of co-operation between the saffron parivar and the CPI(M), which the latter rejected immediately.

In an outright rejection of Advani's view, Vijayan said "we have not only worked ceaselessly to defend secularism but also stiffly fought the communal forces."

He charged Advani for creating communal tension in the country during his rathyatra. Later, as the country's Home Minister Advani declined to remove Narendra Modi as chief minister in the wake of the Gujarat riots despite the then Prime Minister A B Vajapayee wanting him to go, Vijayan said.

Despite his eagerness to end political untouchability, Advani did not forget to make his usual dose of criticism against the Communist movement, arguing its future was bleak, Vijayan said.