Kochi (Kerala), Nov 25 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Monday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of promoting majority communalism and alleged that he focused on it during the Lok Sabha elections.

Satheesan's remarks come following the allegations made by the CM and the CPI(M) that the UDF was receiving support from Islamist outfits such as SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami.

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"He (Vijayan) raised the CAA and Gaza issues during his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. Despite suffering a major setback in the polls, he continues to promote communalism, changing his stance like a chameleon," Satheesan claimed.

He further alleged that the chief minister is now targeting the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and its leader, Panakkad Sadiqali Shihab Thangal.

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"Some of the chief minister's claims are baseless," he said at a press conference here.

However, there was no immediate response from the ruling CPI(M) over Satheesan's allegations.

Satheesan criticised the chief minister's assertion that the LDF had increased its vote share in the Palakkad Assembly bypoll by surpassing the BJP, which finished second.

The Congress-led UDF retained the Palakkad Assembly seat with its candidate Rahul Mamkootathil winning by a significant margin of 18,840 votes, pushing the ruling Left bloc to third spot.

Mamkootathil secured 58,389 votes against BJP's C Krishnakumar who garnered 39,549 votes. LDF candidate Dr P Sarin finished third with 37,293 votes.

"It is not an increase in LDF votes but a decline in BJP votes," Satheesan noted, pointing out that the BJP saw a decrease of 11,000 votes in the Palakkad bypoll compared to the 2021 elections.

The LDF had alleged that the UDF's victory in Palakkad came from SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami votes. However, Satheesan countered this claim, stating that the BJP votes from last time had shifted to the UDF, not SDPI votes.

Responding to questions, Satheesan clarified that UDF candidate Rahul Mamkootathil did not hold any discussions with SDPI leaders.

"Anyone can take a photo with him (Mamkootathil). There are hundreds of photos of SDPI leaders with Pinarayi Vijayan. I can show them to you if needed," he said.

Satheesan said that Vijayan, during his tenure as CPI(M) state secretary, openly admitted to receiving support from the Welfare Party, SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami.

He also noted that the Left party's official mouthpiece had written an editorial welcoming these organisations in 1996.

"The Congress's stance towards the SDPI was made clear during the Lok Sabha elections. We are against the minority and majority communalism as well and there is no need to reiterate it every day," Satheesan said.

On the Chelakkara Assembly bypoll defeat, Satheesan accepted responsibility but noted that the UDF managed to reduce the opponent's victory margin.

Ruling LDF candidate U R Pradeep won the Chelakkara seat by defeating Congress-UDF's Ramya Haridas by a margin of 12,201 votes.

"In Chelakkara, where the opponent previously had a majority of 40,000 votes, we brought it down to 12,000. We secured more votes than last time," Satheesan said, adding that significant political contests were held in Palakkad, Wayanad, and Chelakkara.

He also said there was a decline of 75,000 votes for the LDF candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll compared to the previous election.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won the Wayanad seat with a thumping margin of over four lakh votes. She defeated Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI(M)-led LDF by securing more than six lakh votes.

Mokeri got 2,11,407 votes while BJP candidate Navya Haridas finished third with 1,09,939 votes.

The Congress leader stated he had not received any complaints from party candidate Ramya Haridas regarding the bypoll outcome in Chelakkara.

Both the LDF and the UDF retained the Chelakkara and Palakkad Assembly seats, respectively, with a comfortable margin in the recent bypolls. The Congress won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a thumping margin.

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