Thiruvananthapuram

Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on the Sabarimala issue in a rally on Tuesday were “very unfortunate”.

Speaking with media, Chandy said: “The Prime minister’s comments on Sabarimala were very unfortunate. We expected that he will propose some solution to solve this issue, but the Prime Minister did not do like that”. He further refuted PM Modi’s ‘double standard’ accusations on the Congress, saying that his party has a definite stand on the Sabarimala issue.

“We gave a new affidavit, withdrawing the affidavit filed by the LDF, to protect the interests of the devotees. Our stand is very clear, we are with the devotees and at the same time we are against taking political advantage of the Sabarimala issue,” Chandy said.

“We have no confusion, our stand is not a new stand. We took the stand when we were in power, we withdrawn of the affidavit of the LDF government and we gave affidavit in consultation of all consent people,” he added.

During his rally on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the LDF’s conduct on the Sabarimala issue “will go down in history as one of the most shameful behaviours by any party and government”. He also accused the Congress party-led UDF of having “multiple stands”, saying “they say one thing in Parliament but a different thing in Pathanamthitta”.

PMs Statement: Atrocious & Condemnable: CPM

The Prime Minister has stated in a public meeting at Kollam in Kerala that the stand of the LDF Government on the Sabarimala issue is “shameful”. This statement is atrocious and highly condemnable. He is admonishing an elected Government for implementing the judgement of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Modi forgot that he had taken oath on the Constitution of India and he spoke as an RSS pracharak not as the Prime Minister. His statement constitutes a direct assault on the Indian Constitution and the Supreme Court.

His statement has dangerous implications for the future as it means that any Supreme Court judgement which does not suit the interests of the BJP and RSS will be defied and a Government seeking to implement it will be attacked by them. In the history of independent India this is an unprecedented situation.

All those who subscribe to the Constitution and secular democratic values will condemn the stand of the Prime Minister.