THRISSUR: The LDF’s Kerala Samrakshana Yatra, led by CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan from South and CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran from North, concluded with a massive rally attended by more than 1 lakh people in Thrissur on Saturday. The rally turned out to be the LDF’s power show in its citadel with 12 Assembly seats, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Inaugurating the concluding ceremony, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the country went through a tough time during the past couple of weeks, but the ruling party at the Centre tried to gain political mileage out of the situation in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Pinarayi began his speech with a red salute to IAF Wing Commanding officer Abhinandhan. He also slammed the RSS and its chief for the remarks on the Army, which invited widespread criticism.
“RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat always have great feelings for his cadre. But why is he insulting the country’s Army men who have shown the courage to sacrifice their life for the nation,” he asked. Pinarayi also took a dig at the Congress-led Janamaha Yatra, saying it was a parallel rally so that none will cast an evil eye on the LDF yatra. “Last August, the state faced the worst floods of the century and the United Nations estimated the loss at around `30,000 crore.
But, the Central Government led by BJP didn’t take it seriously. The Centre also restricted the state government from accepting assistance offered by kind-hearted people,” Pinarayi said. Setting a tune to the upcoming LS polls, the Chief Minister also highlighted each and every step taken by the state government towards the state’s development. Pinarayi said the LDF candidates who would represent the state in Parliament will not fall stoop before the money power of NDA.
No plans for Church Bill:
CM Pinarayi said the state government has no plan to introduce Church Bill, as speculated by certain media reports. “The LDF always sticks to its manifesto. If something not mentioned in the manifesto comes up, the alliance parties will meet and discuss before arriving at a decision. “In the case of Church Bill, it was V R Krishna Iyer who put forth such a reform proposal, but we never took it for discussions. The LDF has neither included it in the manifesto nor discussed within the front,” he said.