Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan are taking radically different approaches towards Indian Union Muslim League leader P.K. Kunhalikutty in their campaign.
Giving further proof that the official faction of the CPI(M) is ‘soft’ on the IUML leader, Mr Vijayan chose to spare him during his speeches and went for an all out attack against M.K. Muneer, the arch rival of Mr Kunhalikutty in the party.
At a public meeting at Kuttichira here on Saturday, Mr Vijayan said Dr Muneer has floated a company in his name as well as that of his wife and has bought shares of Indiavision channel worth `8 crore.
Mr Vijayan said Dr Muneer’s claim that he is only the titular head of the channel is a lie. He wanted to know from where the IUML leader got the money to buy the shares.
He also recalled that there are 11 vigilance cases against Dr Muneer for alleged corrutpion in the construction of roads.
The CPI(M) leader, however, did not attend election meeting in Vengara from where Mr Kunhalikutty is contesting even during his campaign in Malappuram.
Mr Achuthanandan, on the contrary, continued his tirade against Mr Kunhalikutty on Sunday too.
“The IUML confined itself to 24 seats after the UDF leadership assured the post of deputy chief minister to Kunhalikutty,” said Mr Achuthanandan. “How can a person involved in a sex racket case be made the deputy chief minister?”
Significantly, during his first round of campaign in North Kerala, Mr Achuthanandan never targeted Dr Muneer or the Indiavision channel, which was instrumental in bringing out new revelations in the ice cream sex racket case giving more ammunition to the Chief Minister.
The anti-Kunhalikutty group in the IUML always maintained that the League leader had a “tactical understanding” with the official faction in the CPI(M) while the VS faction has alleged that it was the Vijayan group that saved Mr Kunhalikutty from the ice-cream sex racket case during the Nayanar regime.